From the sensually nostalgic waltzes of Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier to the death and despair of Sibelius' Valse Triste, the fin de siècle was filled with melancholic waltzes. At first, Austrian-German composer Franz Schreker's Valse Lente of 1908 might appear to be a far lesser work. Composed for Elsa Wiesenthal, one of the two dancing Wiesenthal sisters who inspired Schreker's ballet-pantomime Der Geburtstag der Infantin written earlier in 1908, Schreker's Valse Lente is a seemingly short, slight work. Delicately orchestrated for five woodwinds, harp, celesta, triangle, and small string ensemble, the Valse Lente still has the subtly shimmering orchestral sonorities of Schreker's more lushly scored works. Structurally clearer than his more elusive larger orchestral works from the same time, with its introduction followed by two waltzes separated by an oboe interlude and ending with a coda that combines reminiscences of both waltz melodies, the Valse Lente still has Schreker's mysteriously ambiguous sense of form. But what truly distinguishes Schreker's Valse Lente from his contemporaries is its harmonic language—a blend of Wagner's chromatic tonality and Debussy's "chord as colors" modality—and its tone, an intoxicating fusion of ecstatic sensuality and despairing pessimism. Schreker's Valse Lente was not premiered in Schreker's lifetime, but received its first performance in 1984 by the Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide