Aufforderung zum Tanz

orchestrated by Felix Weingartner (1863-1942)

The Austrian conductor and composer Felix Weingartner thought little of Berlioz’s orchestration of the Aufforderung zum Tanz which, basically, he felt was too faithful to Weber’s piano score. It was his conviction that an orchestral arrangement should take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the new medium. So, although he restored the original key of D flat major, he took it upon himself to expand the construction - not least by interpolating a cadenza between the opening recitative and the main waltz section - and to elaborate the texture by introducing a contrapuntal interest absent from the original. The climax of the piece in the Weingartner version, where all the main themes appear together, is a tour de force of its kind.