"Waves of the
Danube" (
Romanian: Valurile Dunării) is a
waltz composed by
Iosif Ivanovici in 1880, and is one of the most famous
Romanian tunes in the world. The song has many variations throughout the piece, reminiscent of the music of
Johann Strauss. Through the Viennese style variations, there is still a distinct Slavic style.
In the United States, it is frequently referred to as "The Anniversary Song",[1] a title given by
Al Jolson when he and
Saul Chaplin released an adaptation of the song in
1946.[2]
Rise to prominence
"Waves of the Danube" was first published in
Bucharest in
1880. It was dedicated to Emma Gebauer, the wife of
music publisher Constantin Gebauer. Composer
Émile Waldteufel made an orchestration of the piece in 1886, which was performed for the first time at the 1889
Paris Exposition, and took the audience by storm.[2] It won the march prize to mark the exhibition out of 116 entries.[1]
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."
Use in popular music
"In Praise of Death"
The melody of "Waves of the Danube" was used in what is regarded as
Korea's first popular song, "In Praise of Death" by
Yun Sim-deok recorded in 1926. The song was recorded in
Osaka, where she met and fell in love with a Korean married man. The two boarded a steamship returning to Korea, but ended their lives by jumping into the sea.[3][4]
"The Anniversary Song"
"Waves of the Danube" became well known in the United States only half a century later.
Al Jolson 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.[5] The 1946
sheet music of the song credits the
composers 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.[6]
Other recordings of The Anniversary Song
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.[6]
A recording by
Guy Lombardo was cut 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.[6]
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.[6]
Artie Shaw and his New Music Orchestra released a version the same year.[7]
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.[6]
An arrangement by Henry Lefkowitch with
Yiddish lyrics by
Chaim Towber was published in 1947 as "Der Chasene Waltz" ("The Wedding Waltz"). However, the online catalog of the
Florida Atlantic University Libraries contains a record that has 1941 as publication date for this song.[17]
"Waves of the Danube" is used in and referred to by characters in the 1963 Soviet film
Alyonka, directed by
Boris Barnet, in which a newly-graduated dentist imagines her new life on the steppe accompanied by Ivanovici's melody.
This tune was also used by the famous Indian film maker
Raj Kapoor in many of his movies, all the way from
Barsaat to
Dharm Karm.[18]
This song is also sung in the Japanese movie "Tree Without Leaves" (Rakuyoju, 1986).
In the bibliographic film
Persona Non Grata this waltz is used in one of the final acts in a dance between the protagonist
Chiuge Sugihara and his wife near by an orchestra.
On television
The song was sung with American lyrics by
Donny Most (as character Ralph Malph) on the ABC sitcom Happy Days, in the 1976 episode titled "They Shoot Fonzies Don't They?"
In books
The song is sung by Alexander-Shura, the main character of the bestseller novel The Bronze Horseman, by
Paullina Simons (2001), the night of his wedding with Tatiana, in Lazarevo.
Fame in other countries
The tune, along with the corresponding lyrics used in the movie Valurile Dunării, was very popular in
China beginning in the 1960s.
The melody of "Waves of the Danube" has been well known in
Korea, since the 1920s, thanks to the
sopranoYoun Shim-Deok. It is known there as "The Psalm of Death".[19]
^Lee, Young Mee,(2006), The Beginnings of Korean Pop, in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (England: Global Oriental, 2006) p.3
^Lee, Young Mee (2006) The Beginnings of Korean Pop, in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard, England: Global Oriental, 2006, p.3.