Purchasing information Notice for leaders/bass players
Length: approx. 10½ mins. Sounds best with the tenor doubled.
Calanthe is a quite charming sweet suite comprising an introduction in common time, 3 waltzes and a coda which has some elements of the 1st waltz. It was widely performed in the early years after its composition. The word itself derives from the Greek language and means beautiful flower. It is used both as a girl's name and more generally as a botanical term for the a widespread genus of terrestrial orchids (family Orchidaceae) with about 150 species. The cover of the original sheet music however shows a goddess-like figure encircled by angelic creatures so it is quite possible that the waltzes celebrate those American orders such as the Court of Calanthe or the Pythian Sisters and their associated Calanthe Temples.
Calanthe was published by
Feist and Frankenthaler, New York, USA.
A tempo of 150 crotchets/min. is suggested.