The origins and launch of La Petite Valse...
How a small piece of music by Liège based composer and café concert pianist Joe Heyne conquered the world.
La Petite Valse was written by Liège composer and pianist Joe Heyne (1904-1978), who organised dances with his own orchestra, performed regularly for the radio and was also invited to perform in luxury hotels in Europe and the United States. He has performed alongside music stars like the American Josephine Baker, the Frenchman Albert Préjean, and the Austrian Richard Tauber. Joe Heyne was given a plaque at 263 Avenue d'Auderghem in Etterbeek, where he lived from 1959 until his death. A park bearing his name was established behind a block of houses on Avenue de Maelbeek.
You will undoubtedly recognise the highly repetitive instrumental piece right away. It was written for piano, Hammond organ, guitar and flute. There is even a carillon version and a vocal rendition of it. Joe Heyne composed it in circa 1950 on the fourth floor of the house at No 12 Rue de la Loi in Brussels, between Rue de Flandre and Rue Antoine Dansaer. A record dealer from Brussels visited Heyne's publisher, believing he could profit from a 78-rpm record featuring eight songs by Joe Heyne. Joe had only seven songs written. With little hope for success, the publisher decided to toss in La Petite Valse as the eighth song, on the B-side. In fact, the opposite happened: the A-side was only lukewarmly received while La Petite Valse was a massive hit! His worldwide triumphal tour could commence. The biggest record companies in the world jumped on it. It was particularly popular in the US and the UK. Fred Astaire even came up with a dance to go with it.
Rue de la Clé
And while you're on Rue de la Clé, bear in mind that it was created in the 17th century as a private cul-de-sac. The owner was a certain Nicolas Jacobs. Due to the presence of several individuals with dubious intentions loitering about, Nicolas opted to shut down his alley every night, reopening it only in the morning. However, the tenants were displeased with this arrangement and lodged complaints. From then on, the city required Nicolas to give each tenant their own key. Incidentally, do you see that key hanging on the facade of No 10? Later the alley became a full-blown street, but for a long time locals persisted in calling it Sleutelstrotje [Key Alley]…
But for now, close your eyes for a moment and surrender to the nostalgia evoked by La Petite Valse. This lively waltz never ceases to bring a smile to people's faces. Similar to countless other instrumental melodies, it deserves more than being relegated to radio filler or intermission music.