Carl Maria von Weber Works

Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanz[a]), Op. 65, J. 260, is a piano piece in rondo form written by Carl Maria von Weber in 1819. The 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz is also well-known. It was the first work in waltz form meant for listening rather than for dancing. And it was the first piece that, rather than being a tune for the dancers to dance to or a piece of abstract music, was a programmatic description of the dancers themselves. Invitation to the Dance was part of the repertoire of Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, and many other pianists. It lent the waltz a degree of respectability it had lacked, and was a precursor for the waltzes of  Frederic Chopin and others. The 1956 Gene Kelly all-dance anthology film Invitation to the Dance took its name from the von Weber piece and used it in the opening credits. 

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Invitation to the Dance   Part 1   Part 2   Part 3    Playlist