Crying Waltz: A Song History

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The sources consulted here say little about "Crying Waltz," and none names a composer or says when it was written. The Traditional Tune Archive lists it as a two-part old-time waltz in A major. It ties the tune to a central Missouri fiddler it names as Pete McMahon, and it takes its notation from Floyd Engstrom's playing as printed in Silberberg's Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern (2002).[1] A fiddle-lesson site teaches a "Crying Waltz," also in A, as a Texas-style contest waltz.[2] These sources do not show whether that is the same melody as the Missouri tune. They also do not say which of the two Stephen Seifert arranged for mountain dulcimer in Join the Jam II, where the title appears.[3]

Anders Zorn etching of couples waltzing in a crowded, dimly lit dance hall

Anders Zorn, The Waltz, etching and drypoint, 1891. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0).

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Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Crying Waltz".
  2. FiddleVideo.com: "Crying Waltz - Fiddle Lesson by Megan Lynch Chowning".
  3. Stephen Seifert: "Join the Jam II".