I was slightly taken aback by my reaction – at that time of the morning!
When I was a teenager & grown ups were appalled by young people dancing the new fangled rock ‘n’ roll, & spoke of Elvis the Pelvis in shocked tones, we used to retaliate by reminding them that once upon a time mothers thought that the waltz was indecent & refused to let their daughters take part – & now what could be more respectable than Victor Sylvester
The Buxton Festival had, for at least a couple of years, a Viennese evening, with the Halle orchestra conducted by none other than Sir John Barbirolli. Some people refuse to believe me when I tell them that the evening ended with a Viennese ball – still with Barbirolli conducting, or so the programme said (I cannot find any confirmation of this on the web)
My mother did not like classical music but my father took me to the regular concerts in Sheffield from when I was about 10 years old. We went to the Buxton Halle concert earlier in the evening but the ball was far too late for me. I longed to be able to stay & dance with my father
Listening to Vienna Woods I began to wonder if that had not been all too, well, a bit, you know, Freudian
Well no, I don’t think so. The really shocking thing in those days would have been to go to a dance with a young man – as opposed to being chaperoned to one where people of all ages would have been present. And my father was one of the very small number of men I knew who were actually taller than me. Unfortunately he had two left feet & only ever shuffled a lady around the dance floor when bounden duty called. The Viennese waltz & the polka would have been well beyond his capabilities
But anyway, who cares. Just enjoy the music
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