Dale Morris was the first person I heard play La Zenda Waltz, but I didn’t learn it from Dale at that time. It’s one of those tunes I assimilated over time by hearing lots of people play it.
It has a pretty melody, and being in a flat key really gives it a smooth sound to me.
Zenda Waltz According to Fiddler’s Companion
ZENDA WALTZ. AKA and see “La Zenda Waltz,” “Lucenda Waltz,” “Zender Waltz,” “Zinder Waltz.” Canadian, Waltz. A Major (‘A’ part) & D Major (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AB (Phillips): ABB (Messer). Frank Nims writes that the “Zenda Waltz” was “composed by Frank M. Witmark around 1896. It was written as incidental music for a stage version of the hit novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), an adventure set in the imaginary Balkan kingdom of Zenda. Anyhow, I know it as the theme song of magician Howard Thurston, a very big star in his time (~1910-1930). For decades after his passing, at magicians’ gatherings, if somebody was demonstrating an especially show-bizzy sort of trick one of the onlookers was sure to start humming “Zenda Waltzes”. I’m guessing it became known among traditional musicians via Thurston, who toured the country on a grand scale (ten freight cars worth of props & scenery in his prime). Although obviously it stands on its own merits now. Might be interesting to see how the folk process has changed it over the years.” Source for notated version: Jana Jae Greif [Phillips]. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 170, pgs. 114‑115. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 330. Voyager 340, Jim Herd – “Old Time Ozark Fiddling” (appears as “Zender’s Waltz”).
The Prisoner of Zenda According to Wikipeda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_of_Zenda
I also found this cool Old Recording of Zenda Waltz:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&query=cylinder7162
