The Waves of the Danube
Encyclopedia
"Waves of the Danube
" is a waltz
composed by Iosif Ivanovici (1845–1902) in 1880
, and is one of the most famous Romanian tunes in the world. In the United States
, it is frequently referred to as "The Anniversary Song", a title given by Al Jolson
when he and Saul Chaplin
released an adaptation of the song in 1946
. "The Anniversary Song" is sometimes confusingly referred to as "The Anniversary Waltz
", which is actually the name of a completely unrelated song. As "Waves of the Danube", the song is also confused with the more famous Danube
tune "The Blue Danube
" by Johann Strauss II
.
, 1880
. It was dedicated to Emma Gebauer, the wife of music publisher
Constantin Gebauer. Composer Emile Waldteufel
made an orchestration of the song in 1886, which was performed for the first time at the 1889 Paris Exposition
, and took the audience by storm. It won the march prize to mark the exhibition out of 116 entries.
Ivanovici's "Danube Waves" was published in the United States
in 1896 and republished in 1903 by the Theodore Lohr Company in an arrangement for piano by Simon Adler. The published version was called "Waves of the Danube." The composition is also known as "Danube Waves Waltz."
and Saul Chaplin
published it in 1946
under the name of "The Anniversary Song" ("Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed") and as their own composition. The 1946 sheet music
of the song credits the composer
s as Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin with music by Iosif Ivanovici. Jolson and Chaplin wrote the lyrics while Chaplin adapted Ivanovici's music.
Al Jolson released "The Anniversary Song" on Decca
as catalog number
23714. It first reached the Billboard
charts on February 7, 1947 and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2. Dinah Shore
released a version of the song on Columbia
as catalog number 37234; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 28, 1947 and lasted eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. A recording by Guy Lombardo
was recorded on December 13, 1946 and released by Decca Records
as catalog number 23799; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 14, 1947 and lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. Tex Beneke
and the Glenn Miller Orchestra
featuring Garry Stevens and the Mello Larks on vocals released a version of the song in 1947 on RCA Victor as catalog number 20-2126; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 21, 1947 and lasted eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #3. Artie Shaw
and his New Music Orchestra released a version the same year. Joni James
released a version of the song on her 1958 MGM
album Among My Souvenirs. Andy Russell
and Paul Weston
released a version on Capitol Records
as catalog number 368; it first reached the Billboard charts on March 14, 1947 and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. Guitarist Django Reinhardt
and the Quintette du Hot Club de France
released a version in 1947 on Blue Star as a 78, Blue Star 33. Frank Sinatra
performed The Anniversary Song with for radio broadcast. The recording is available on the Frank Sinatra collection The Radio Years. Bing Crosby
, Rosemary Clooney
, Mitch Miller
, and Andy Williams
, also performed and recorded the song as "The Anniversary Song."
Libraries contains a record that has 1941 as publication date for this song.
used the melody in his film Dishonored
, in which Marlene Dietrich
mime
d several piano performances of it. The tune was next used, without being credited, in the 1934 American comedy film The Circus Clown
.
Under the name of "The Anniversary Song" it was featured in Al Jolson's biographical
Columbia
film The Jolson Story
in 1946 and the sequel Jolson Sings Again
(1949), as well as in Blondie's Anniversary
in 1947. Under the name "Waves of the Danube" the tune was used in Akira Kurosawa
's 1949 film Stray Dog
.
After World War II
the tune was used in 1959 in a Romanian film by Liviu Ciulei
dealing with the war, titled, after the song, Valurile Dunării. A cover by The New Vaudeville Band
was used in 1968 as the title song for cult British Hammer horror The Anniversary
starring Bette Davis
. It has also appeared in the movies Mayerling
in 1968, Falling in Love Again
in 1980, When Father Was Away on Business
in 1985, Avalon in 1990, Payback in 1999, Father and Daughter
in 2000, and A Guy Thing
in 2003.
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
" is a waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
composed by Iosif Ivanovici (1845–1902) in 1880
1880 in music
-Events:*Richard Strauss' first major work, a symphony in D minor, is premiered.*Gustav Mahler obtains work as a conductor at a summer theatre at Bad Hall.*Richard Wagner publishes his autobiography.-Published popular music:...
, and is one of the most famous Romanian tunes in the world. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it is frequently referred to as "The Anniversary Song", a title given by Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
when he and Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York.He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley...
released an adaptation of the song in 1946
1946 in music
- Events :*January 6 – A somewhat revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the same theatre at which the original production played back in 1927. This production features newly designed sets and costumes, new, more extended...
. "The Anniversary Song" is sometimes confusingly referred to as "The Anniversary Waltz
The Anniversary Waltz
The Anniversary Waltz is a popular song written by Dave Franklin, the lyrics by Al Dubin. The song was published in 1941. It has been covered by Vera Lynn and Connie Francis....
", which is actually the name of a completely unrelated song. As "Waves of the Danube", the song is also confused with the more famous Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
tune "The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 , a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866...
" by Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
.
Rise to prominence
"Waves of the Danube" was first published in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, 1880
1880 in music
-Events:*Richard Strauss' first major work, a symphony in D minor, is premiered.*Gustav Mahler obtains work as a conductor at a summer theatre at Bad Hall.*Richard Wagner publishes his autobiography.-Published popular music:...
. It was dedicated to Emma Gebauer, the wife of music publisher
Music publisher (sheet music)
The term music publisher originally referred to publishers who issued printed sheet music....
Constantin Gebauer. Composer Emile Waldteufel
Émile Waldteufel
Émile Waldteufel was a French composer of dance music.-Life:Émile Waldteufel was born in Strasbourg to a Jewish Alsatian family of musicians....
made an orchestration of the song in 1886, which was performed for the first time at the 1889 Paris Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
, and took the audience by storm. It won the march prize to mark the exhibition out of 116 entries.
Ivanovici's "Danube Waves" was published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1896 and republished in 1903 by the Theodore Lohr Company in an arrangement for piano by Simon Adler. The published version was called "Waves of the Danube." The composition is also known as "Danube Waves Waltz."
"The Anniversary Song"
"Waves of the Danube" became known in the United States only half a century later. Al JolsonAl Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
and Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin
Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.He was born Saul Kaplan in Brooklyn, New York.He had worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley...
published it in 1946
1946 in music
- Events :*January 6 – A somewhat revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the same theatre at which the original production played back in 1927. This production features newly designed sets and costumes, new, more extended...
under the name of "The Anniversary Song" ("Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed") and as their own composition. The 1946 sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
of the song credits the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s as Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin with music by Iosif Ivanovici. Jolson and Chaplin wrote the lyrics while Chaplin adapted Ivanovici's music.
Al Jolson released "The Anniversary Song" on Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
23714. It first reached the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts on February 7, 1947 and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2. Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
released a version of the song on Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number 37234; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 28, 1947 and lasted eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. A recording by Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
was recorded on December 13, 1946 and released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number 23799; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 14, 1947 and lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. Tex Beneke
Tex Beneke
Gordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
and the Glenn Miller Orchestra
Glenn Miller Orchestra
The Glenn Miller Orchestra was originally formed in 1938 by Glenn Miller. It was arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, while three other saxophones played the harmony...
featuring Garry Stevens and the Mello Larks on vocals released a version of the song in 1947 on RCA Victor as catalog number 20-2126; it first reached the Billboard charts on February 21, 1947 and lasted eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #3. Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
and his New Music Orchestra released a version the same year. Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
released a version of the song on her 1958 MGM
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
album Among My Souvenirs. Andy Russell
Andy Russell (singer)
Andy Russell was an American popular vocalist, specializing in traditional pop and Latin music.He was born Andrés Rabago Pérez in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles. He was one of ten children born to parents who were Mexican immigrants of Spanish descent...
and Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
released a version on Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
as catalog number 368; it first reached the Billboard charts on March 14, 1947 and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. Guitarist Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
and the Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France
Quintette du Hot Club de France was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and active in one form or another until 1948....
released a version in 1947 on Blue Star as a 78, Blue Star 33. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
performed The Anniversary Song with for radio broadcast. The recording is available on the Frank Sinatra collection The Radio Years. Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
, Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
, and Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, also performed and recorded the song as "The Anniversary Song."
"Der Chasene Waltz"
An arrangement by Henry Lefkowitch with Yiddish lyrics by Chaim Tauber was published in 1947 as "Der Chasene Waltz" ("The Wedding Waltz"). However, the online catalog of the Florida Atlantic UniversityFlorida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
Libraries contains a record that has 1941 as publication date for this song.
In film
In 1931, film director Josef von SternbergJosef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
used the melody in his film Dishonored
Dishonored
Dishonored is a 1931 romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was co-written , directed and edited by Josef von Sternberg...
, in which Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
d several piano performances of it. The tune was next used, without being credited, in the 1934 American comedy film The Circus Clown
The Circus Clown
The Circus Clown is a 1934 comedy film about a man who wants to join the circus against the wishes of his ex-circus clown father. It starred Joe E. Brown and Patricia Ellis....
.
Under the name of "The Anniversary Song" it was featured in Al Jolson's biographical
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
Columbia
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
film The Jolson Story
The Jolson Story
The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" , William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson.The...
in 1946 and the sequel Jolson Sings Again
Jolson Sings Again
Jolson Sings Again is the 1949 film sequel to The Jolson Story, both of which cover the life of singer Al Jolson.-Synopsis:In this follow-up to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer's career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has left him and the...
(1949), as well as in Blondie's Anniversary
Blondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
in 1947. Under the name "Waves of the Danube" the tune was used in Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
's 1949 film Stray Dog
Stray Dog (film)
is a 1949 film noir police procedural directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring frequent collaborators Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura.-Plot:Action takes place during a heatwave in a bombed-out, post-war Tokyo...
.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the tune was used in 1959 in a Romanian film by Liviu Ciulei
Liviu Ciulei
Liviu Ciulei was a Romanian theater and film director, film writer, actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he was described by Newsweek as "one of the boldest and most challenging figures on the international scene".-Biography:Born in...
dealing with the war, titled, after the song, Valurile Dunării. A cover by The New Vaudeville Band
The New Vaudeville Band
The New Vaudeville Band was a group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone style vocal...
was used in 1968 as the title song for cult British Hammer horror The Anniversary
The Anniversary (film)
The Anniversary is a 1968 British black comedy film directed by Roy Ward Baker. The screenplay by Jimmy Sangster is based on the 1966 play of the same title by Bill MacIlwraith.-Plot:...
starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. It has also appeared in the movies Mayerling
Mayerling (1968 film)
Mayerling is a 1968 romantic tragedy film starring Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Page, James Robertson Justice and Andréa Parisy. It was written and directed by Terence Young...
in 1968, Falling in Love Again
Falling in Love Again (1980 film)
Falling in Love Again is a 1980 American romantic comedy film directed by Steven Paul and starring Elliot Gould, Sussanah York. A man reminisces about a relationship he had with a girl in his youth.-Cast:* Kaye Ballard - Mrs. Lewis* Twink Caplan -Melinda...
in 1980, When Father Was Away on Business
When Father Was Away on Business
When Father Was Away on Business is a 1985 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the Bosnian dramatist Abdulah Sidran...
in 1985, Avalon in 1990, Payback in 1999, Father and Daughter
Father and Daughter (film)
Father and Daughter is a 2000 Dutch animated short film, made by Michaël Dudok De Wit. It won the 2000 Academy Award for Animated Short Film....
in 2000, and A Guy Thing
A Guy Thing
- Plot :Karen and Paul are about get married. However, after his bachelor party, Paul wakes up next to Becky , a dancer at the party. Assuming they slept together, Paul rushes Becky out of his apartment and hopes never to see her again. He tries to cover up the connection for the few days before...
in 2003.
Fame in other countries
- The tune, along with the corresponding lyrics used in the movie Valurile Dunării, was very popular in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
beginning in the 1960s.
- The melody of "Waves of the Danube" has been well known in KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, since the 1920s, thanks to the soprano Youn Shim-DeokYoun Shim-deokYun Sim-Deok was the first woman soprano to achieve fame throughout Korea.- Life and career :...
. It is known there as "The Psalm of Death".
- The interlude of "Jeena Yehann Maranaa Yehann" in the BollywoodBollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film Mera Naam JokerMera Naam JokerMera Naam Joker is a 1970 Hindi film directed by Raj Kapoor. The screenplay was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. This film was the debut of Rishi Kapoor. Mera Naam Joker is a film about a clown who must make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. The film is reportedly inspired by Raj...
uses this tune.
- In PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, an instrumental recording from Grady MartinGrady MartinThomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly....
is the best known and the most popular. It is played both at weddings and quinceañeraQuinceañeraQuinceañera , sometimes called "Fiesta de quince años", "Fiesta de Quinceañera", "Quince años" or simply "quince", is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of immigrants from Latin America...
s.
External links
- Audio sample of "Waves of the Danube"