La Valse Féte - I love dancing and have always imagined going to a real Ball where ladies wear ball gowns and waltz with their partners into the night. The main theme of my composition starts out a bit timidly. I used chromatic tones to make it feel a bit like one is a little off kilter, perhaps in a dream. In fact, I originally titled this piece, The Glass Waltz, likening it to sliding around on glass. But I expanded the piece to include the second section, which changes keys and introduces a variation implying perhaps a new suitor has arrived and caught the dancer’s eye. Then the main theme returns, only expanded with a counter melody implying the dancers are twirling about. The second variation is quiet and I imagined perhaps a young girl has been watching the ball from her place along the wall, hoping to be asked to dance. Then it crescendos as a suitor takes her hand and they join the others, waltzing with great delight. In this last section I have all the themes interwoven and building with exhilaration to a point where two chromatic scales move in opposite directions bringing the ball to a festive end.
