The 16 Wiener Damen-Ländler, or Viennese Ladies' Ländler, which, together with two ecossaises, make up Franz Schubert's D. 734, are among the composer's best-known and best-loved short dance pieces. Schubert probably wrote them sometime in or about 1822, but these 18 musical cream-puffs have apparently survived any clues that might let us narrow down their date or dates any further; they were published in 1826 as Opus 67, at which point the phrase "Hommage aux belles Viennoises" was attached to them.

In Op. 67, the Ländler, which is a dance-form that peaked in popularity during the early nineteenth century only to fall into the shadow of its relative the waltz, come in two varieties: those in 16 measure binary form, and those in 24 measure miniature ternary form. Schubert has crafted them to be played in one fell swoop, one right after another until the sixteenth and final Ländler has reached its hardy G major conclusion. Many of the dances here have far more internal harmonic contrast than do the Ländler of D. 145 (Op. 18), largely because of the increased room in the three-phrase ternary design; present throughout the group is the gemütlichkeit for which the Ländler is, as a genre, famous.

The two Ecossaises of Op.67 are similarly designed to be played without a break, though of course there could only have been one break anyhow. They are in the usual 2/4 meter and proceed from A minor to A major.

© Blair Johnston, Rovi