Wekerlin, 3 Ländler (Valses Alsaciennes)

Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin (alt: Wekerlin) was a French-Alsatian composer (1821-1910) who was a student of Halévy at the Paris Conservatory and later became the Conservatory's librarian. Perhaps in part because of that activity, he became interested in historical and folk musics, notably publishing a volume of bergerettes (pastorales). He composed several operas and a number of songs.

The set of 3 Ländler (Valses Alsaciennes) for piano four-hands was published in 1874. The first strain of the first number is of interest here. I show the prima part with the bass only of the secunda part. The figure is a consistently descending line from C7 to G5 (circled notes), with a loop back at (b), so that we hear C6 sounded at both (a) and (c). The "primitive" ascending gesture in the cadence is a bit of a surprise turn, for its sudden move in the opposite direction, not because of the ^5-^7-^8 gesture.

Thinking of this a bit more abstractly, I think this could be heard as an inverted arch ^8-^7-^6-^5-^5-^7-^8 and have marked scale degrees accordingly in the score. The whole is a pleasant twist on the stereotypical rising figures and sudden "fall from the dominant" of the Viennese waltz.