A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Ländler

LÄNDLER, Länderer, or Ländlerische Tanz, a national dance popular in Austria, Bavaria, Bohemia, and Styria. It probably derives its name from the Landel, a district in the valley of the Ens, where the dance is said to have had its origin; but according to some authorities the word simply means 'country dance,' i.e. a waltz danced in a country fashion. In fact the Ländler is a homely waltz, and only differs from the waltz in being danced more slowly. It is in 3-4 or 3-8 time, and consists of two parts of eight bars, each part being repeated two or more times. Like most early dances, it occasionally has a vocal accompaniment. Both Mozart (Köchel, No. 606) and Beethoven (Nottebohm's Cat. p. 150, 151) have written genuine Ländler, but the compositions under this name of Jensen, Raff, Reinecke, and other modern musicians, have little in common with the original dance. The following example is the first part of a Styrian Ländler (Köhler, Volkstänze; Brunswick, 1854).

The little waltz so well known as 'Le Désir,' usually attributed to Beethoven, though really composed by Schubert, is a Ländler. To know what grace and beauty can be infused into this simple form one must hear Schubert's 'Wiener Damen-Ländler' or 'Belles Viennoises' in their unsophisticated form, before they were treated by Liszt.

[ W. B. S. ]