In Our Time: The Waltz

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the dance which, from when it reached Britain in the early 19th century, revolutionised the relationship between music, literature and people here for the next 100 years. While it may seem formal now, it was the informality and daring that drove its popularity, with couples holding each other as they spun round a room to new lighter music popularised by Johann Strauss, father and son, such as The Blue Danube. Soon the Waltz expanded the creative world in poetry, ballet, novellas and music, from the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev to Moon River and Are You Lonesome Tonight