(, German for "Flea Waltz") is a simple

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

piece, often one of the first learned because its fingering is simple and it allows beginners to perform a piece that is harmonically and rhythmically pleasing.

Music

Despite its name, the piece is not a

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

(), as it has a

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

duple meter Duple metre (or Am. duple meter, also known as duple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples (simple) or 6 and multiples (compound) in the upper figure of the tim ...

() and is closer to a

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

galop In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popul ...

. The composer is unknown. In a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

writing, Eric Baumann attributes the piece to Ferdinand Loh, but this is obviously a joke ("F. Loh" = ''Floh'',

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

in German). The piece is notated in the identically sounding

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

s of

F-sharp major F-sharp major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has six sharps. The F-sharp major scale is: : Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-f ...

G-flat major G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel ...

, because most of the piece's notes are played on black keys in those keys, making the fingering easier.

International

The piece is known all over the world. According to an article by Hiromi Oketani in the Osaka Shoin Women's College Annual for 1994, it is known in Japan as , in Spain as "La Chocolatera", in the Netherlands as "Vlooienmars" (Flea March), in French-speaking countries as "Valse des puces" (Flea Waltz), in Russia as russian: Собачий Вальс, translit=Sobachiy Val's, translation=Dog Waltz, in Poland as "Kotlety" (Cutlet), in Bulgaria as "Koteshki Marsh" (Cat March), in Hungary as "Szamárinduló" (Donkey March), and in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

as "Polca de los Tontos" (Fools' Polka). In Mexico, it is called "Los Changuitos" (The Little Monkeys), in Finland "Kissanpolkka" (Cat's Polka), in the Czech Republic "Prasečí valčík" (Pig Waltz), in Slovakia "Somársky pochod" (Donkey March), and in Korean "고양이 춤" (Cat Dance). In China, it is called "跳蚤圆舞曲" (Flea Waltz). In the United Kingdom, the melody is often called "Chopsticks", but it should not be confused with "

Chopsticks Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...

" by

Euphemia Allen "Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, widely known waltz for the piano. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allen (under the pen name Arthur de Lulli). Allen—whose br ...

. In Taiwan, it is known as "踩到貓兒" (Stepped on a Cat). In Chile, it is known as "La Polka de los perros" (Dogs' polka).

Arrangements

An elaborate variation on this piece, "Lesson One", was a hit in 1962 for pianist

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one ...

. Danish pianist

Bent Fabric Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (7 December 1924 – 28 July 2020), better known internationally as Bent Fabric, was a Danish pianist and composer. Biography Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He started a jazz ensemble after W ...

released a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

-influenced version in 1963 as "Chicken Feed". The piece becomes even easier to play in

piano four hands Piano four hands (french: À quatre mains, german: Zu vier Händen, Vierhändig, it, a quattro mani) is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s, but there are also quite virtuosic versions of such arrangements. Swedish songwriter

Thore Skogman Elof Lars "Thore" Skogman (9 March 1931 – 9 December 2007) was a popular Swedish singer, songwriter, actor and entertainer. Skogman was born in Hallstahammar, Sweden. While working as an accountant and sales manager during the 1950s, he made ...

used the piece as the basis for his 1962 song "" (which has since become the Swedish name for the melody in general), featuring lyrics about a man named Kalle Johansson, who gets in a love affair that involves him, his sister, and two of their neighbors.

Notes

External links

*
"Flohwalzer"
entries in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

catalogue * * *, Jean Panajotoff *, variations and parodies by

Dmitry Malikov Dmitry Yurievich Malikov (russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Маликов; born 29 January 1970) is a Russian actor, composer, singer and a recent record producer. Early life Dmitry Malikov, who goes by his nickname Dima (Дима), was b ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flohwalzer Compositions for solo piano Anonymous musical compositions Compositions in F-sharp major Compositions in G-flat major