British Queen Receives a Waltz From André Rieu

The British Queen Receives a Waltz

A Gift From André Rieu

André Rieu composed a waltz for the occasion of the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The queen is a fan of the Limburg violinist. "She once told me, Beautiful melodies, sir."

Algemeen Dagblad: The waltz is called, what else, the "Windsor Waltz" and is named after the family name of the British royal family. Rieu (66) composed the waltz for the British Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday. (April 21st).

It is no secret that the elderly monarch is a fan of André Rieu. During Rieu's English tour with his Johann Strauss Orchestra six years ago, the monarch herself even went backstage. She was primarily there to shake the hand of the Maastricht violinist. "She walked in between the rubbish, no security. 'Beautiful melodies, sir', she told me. That of course filled me with pride."

Video
For visual accompaniment of the Windsor Waltz (A real English piece with a ballroom-like sound) André Rieu recorded a video clip in Maastricht . For this, a double of the Queen was flown in from Britain."Very hard to distinguish from the real Queen. I constantly had a tendency to address her as 'Your Majesty'. At the beginning of the movie the Queen is received with heralds by trumpets, after which I accompanied her on the red carpet. And then the waltz begins ... "

For Example
Rieu goes back to the time of his idol Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899), to whose music Queen Victoria loved to dance to. Secretly, because the Waltz in the Victorian era was considered immoral.

The Vrijthof, where in July André Rieu will traditionally perform a number of concerts, is part of the decor. Also for his two new CD's Rieu uses the renowned Maastricht square as an atmospheric backdrop. With no less than 150 waltzing couples.

Soon a new CD, "Waltzing Forever" with pieces such as "The Tennessee Waltz, Moon River", and theme from the "Godfather," will be released especially for the US market. For the rest of the world, we will be releasing "Falling in Love" which we are currently finalizing. It will contain romantic pieces such as "Hallelujah, Scarborough Fair, Titanic and Love Story. "

Jubilee
Incidentally, Rieu wrote a waltz earlier in the frame work of Queen Elizabeth's jubilee reign. Has he informed the queen of her birthday gift? "No - you can still write a plain letter to our Queen, but the one to England's Queen has to be of the highest caliber. Although ... You have given me an idea. And why not? I'm just going to send her an official message that I composed the Windsor Waltz just for her."

Thanks to John for the Translation