Description
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18/19 November 1786 – 4/5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school.
Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanz), Op. 65, J. 260, is a piano piece in rondo form written by Carl Maria von Weber in 1819. It is also well known in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz. It is sometimes called Invitation to the Waltz, but this is a mistranslation of the original.
The piece was written in D-flat major. It has a slow introduction (Moderato) leading to a fast section (Allegro vivace), then a lilting waltz theme. Other waltz tunes appear, and the fast section, exuberant scale passages (Vivace) and the main waltz theme are all repeated. It comes to a rousing conclusion – or what sounds very much like one – then finishes with a quiet coda once more. Live audiences are prone to applaud at the false conclusion, believing the work is over.
