Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) was immensely fond of jazz and even more fond of dancing. As he wrote to his friend Alban Berg in 1921, "I am boundlessly fond of nightclub dancing, so much so that I have periods during which I spend whole nights dancing with one hostess or another...out of pure enjoyment of the rhythm and with my subconscious filled with sensual delight." Nor was his fondness for dancing entirely recreational. As Schulhoff continued, "thereby I acquire phenomenal inspiration for my work, as my conscious mind is incredibly earthly, even animal as it were." From his love of dancing and his love of jazz, Schulhoff wrote a series of jazz-inspired dance works between 1919 and 1931. Many of these were written for the piano, Schulhoff's own instrument, and he performed them throughout Europe and on the radio. His last major work in this style was his Suite dansante en jazz for piano from 1931. Set in six movements, the Suite dansante moves through six different dances in a little over a quarter of an hour. It begins with a short, fast Stomp, followed by a languorous Strait, a parodistic Waltz, a sensuous Tango, and a languid Slow, and ends with a fast and lascivious Fox Trot. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide
