Invitation to the Dance, J.260

Aufforderung zum Tanze (Invitation to the Dance) was composed in 1819 and dedicated to Weber's wife of only a few months. This is the first waltz to be written as a concert piece and to depict people dancing. The introduction is a man asking a women to dance and their conversation, they dance, and then depart with his thanks. Berlioz was asked to add a ballet to Weber's opera Der Freischtz, a French tradition when the Paris Opera put on a production in 1841. For this he chose to orchestrate the Invitation to the Dance, which soon became even more popular as an orchestral concert piece than in Weber's original piano setting. This new, beautifully engraved score by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. shows the full details of Berlioz brilliant orchestrational style.