I was re-listening to my Harry Potter scores recently and there's a trio of incredible waltzes in there from John Williams and Patrick Doyle, and that got me thinking:
What are some other great waltzes from films (and, for that matter, video games)?
I'm not strict on the criteria, if it's "waltz-ish" it counts. I'll start:
Birth (Alexandre Desplat) - Birth Waltz Final Fantasy Crystal Chonicles: The Crystal Bearers (Hidenori Iwasaki) - Althea's Waltz Final Fantasy XV (Yoko Shimomura) - Starlit Waltz Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (John Williams) - Aunt Marge's Waltz Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Patrick Doyle) - Neville Waltz and the Potter Waltz
...I'd link them if I could ever remember how YouTube embedding worked on this site...
Miklós Rózsa wrote several great waltzes in his scores. Of particular note are those found in Madame Bovary, The Man in Half Moon Street, Time After Time (Time Machine Waltz), and Tip on a Dead Jockey (Happy Idiot Waltz).
Also, while the full version was never used in the film, Alfred Newman did a wonderful arrangement of Richard Rodgers’ Carousel Waltz for the film version of Carousel.
The Jenny Tannen Story from Wagon Train had a lovely waltz by John Williams. You can hear the music at about 28.00 and then Ann Blythe sings this waltz.
CAROUSEL WALTZ The extended Alfred Newman soundtrack version if fine, but it's in mono. Going back to my LP days, Stanley Black (remember him and his great movie theme compilation LPs) and the London Festival Orchestra did a very sumptuous recording for a London Phase 4 Stereo LP BROADWAY SPECTACULAR. It was my go-to version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWXSC5u_d-0
THE CARDINAL WALTZ Jerome Moross wrote a absolutely GORGEOUS Viennese waltz - it's one of my favorites. You can digitally edit the two times it appears in the film (The Cardinal in Vienna sequence & The Cardinal Themes cue) into a very nice waltz suite. For the THE CARDINAL IN VIENNA Seguence (skip to about 9:17): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILyV7PoqzEQ ...or skip to 1:25 for the same in this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGfBw9l7Nkc
THE CARDINAL THEMES (4:59) This is the last cue on the soundtrack and it had a nice 1:10 satisfying version of the waltz in the middle. I can't find that cue on the internet. Spotify?
"TOMORROW" WALTZ Wow, Joan, that is a vintage John Williams golden oldie that had popularity in its day. It even had sheet music published. Stanley Wilson recorded the waltz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTbxp9-N240
He also included of a nice version it on a 1964 Decca LP THEMES TO REMEMBER (DL-4481 / DL-74481).
I'm kinda surprised Danny Elfman's "Waltz to the Death" for Batman '89 hasn't gotten a mention yet. Probably one of the first ones I'd ever heard growing up.
Joel McNeely's "The Seduction of Princess Leia" from the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack is another fun one.
And if you don't mind me dragging TV shows into the mix, a personal favorite of mine is Michiru Oshima's reprise of the main villain theme in Fullmetal Alchemist as a waltz.
Goldsmith's waltz version of the Blue Max theme is wonderful. His Boys From Brazil waltz turned deadly is unforgettable. I love Barry's "We Danced Home Again" from The Whisperers. And Schifrin's Mannix theme is in waltz time.
