# Flohwalzer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Flohwalzer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Flohwalzer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flohwalzer > Source revision: 1352228916 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Piano composition Theme, notated in G-flat major Flohwalzer, in F-sharp major **Flohwalzer** (German: [\['floːvaltsɐ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:De-Flohwalzer.ogg), German for "Flea Waltz") is a simple [piano](/source/Piano) piece, often one of the first learned because its [fingering](/source/Fingering_(music)#Piano) 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](/source/Waltz) in [triple meter](/source/Triple_meter) (**3** **4**), as it has a [time signature](/source/Time_signature) in [duple meter](/source/Duple_meter) (**2** **4**) and is closer to a [polka](/source/Polka) or [galop](/source/Galop). The composer is unknown. In a [parody](/source/Parody) of [musicology](/source/Musicology) writing, [Eric Baumann](/source/Eric_Baumann_(musicologist)) attributes the piece to Ferdinand Loh, but this is obviously a joke ("F. Loh" = *Floh*, [flea](/source/Flea) in German).[1] The piece is [notated](/source/Musical_notation) in the identically sounding [keys](/source/Key_(music)) of [F-sharp major](/source/F-sharp_major) or [G-flat major](/source/G-flat_major), 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 under various names: - In Bulgaria, it is known as "Котешки марш", *"Koteshki Marsh"* ("Cat March").[2] - In Chile, it is known as "La Polka de los perros" ("Dogs' Polka"). - In China, it is called "跳蚤圆舞曲", *"Tiàozao Yuánwǔqǔ"* ("Flea Waltz"). - In the Czech Republic, it is known as "Prasečí valčík" ("Pig Waltz"). - In Finland, it is known as "Kissanpolkka" ("Cat's Polka"). - In French-speaking countries, it is known as "Valse des puces" ("Flea Waltz").[2] - In Hungary, it is known as "Szamárinduló" ("Donkey March").[2] - In Japan, it is known as "Neko Funjatta" (ねこふんじゃった; "I Stepped on the Cat").[2] - In Korean, it is known as 고양이 춤 (*Goyangi chum*; 'Cat Dance'). - In [Mallorca](/source/Mallorca), it is known as "Polca de los Tontos" ("Fools' Polka").[2] - In Mexico, it is called "Los Changuitos" ("The Little Monkeys"). - In the Netherlands, it is known as "Vlooienmars" ("Flea March").[2] - In Poland, it is known as "Kotlety" ("Cutlets").[2] - In Russia, it is known as "Собачий Вальс", *"Sobachiy Val's"* ("Dog Waltz").[2] - In Slovakia, it is known as "Somársky pochod" ("Donkey March"). - In Spain, it is known as "La Chocolatera".[2] - In Taiwan, it is known as "踩到貓兒", *"Cǎidào Māo'ér"* ("Stepped on a Cat"). - In Ukraine, the melody is called Собачий вальс, *"Sobachyi Val's"* ("Dog Waltz") - In the United Kingdom, the melody is often called "Chopsticks",[3] not to be confused with "[Chopsticks](/source/Chopsticks_(waltz))" by [Euphemia Allen](/source/Euphemia_Allen). ## Arrangements An elaborate [variation](/source/Variation_(music)) on this piece, "Lesson One", was a hit in 1962 for pianist [Russ Conway](/source/Russ_Conway).[4] Danish pianist [Bent Fabric](/source/Bent_Fabric) released a [jazz](/source/Jazz)-influenced version in 1963 as "Chicken Feed".[5] The piece becomes even easier to play in [piano four hands](/source/Piano_four_hands) [arrangements](/source/Arrangement), but there are also quite virtuosic versions of such arrangements.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Swedish songwriter [Thore Skogman](/source/Thore_Skogman) used the piece as the basis for his 1962 song "[Kalle Johansson](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kalle_Johansson_(song)&action=edit&redlink=1) [[sv](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalle_Johansson_(pianostycke))]" (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 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Baumann, Eric](/source/Eric_Baumann_(musicologist)) (1996). *Der Komponist Ferdinand Loh und sein opus magnum: Der Flohwalzer*. Zürich: Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-254-00205-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-254-00205-9). 62 pages. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Oketani_2-8) Hiromi Oketani, ["「ねこふんじゃった」をめぐる成立事情とその経緯について"](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110000123656) ['Neko Funjatta', the Well-Known Piano Piece: The Circumstances of Its Composition], *[Shoin Women's College](/source/Osaka_Shoin_Women's_University) Annual* **31** (1994), pp. 161–170. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [5182362284](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5182362284) (in Japanese) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["What is 'Chopsticks' – and why does it have so many variations?"](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/history-of-chopsticks-music-euphemia-allen). *[Classic FM (UK)](/source/Classic_FM_(UK))*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Russ Conway and orchestra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIdzdQ4i1GA) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Chicken Feed"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4K6VS2flPI) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier)) ## External links - [Der Flohwalzer (anonymous)](https://imslp.org/wiki/Der_Flohwalzer_(Anonymous)): Scores at the [International Music Score Library Project](/source/International_Music_Score_Library_Project) - ["Flohwalzer"](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&query=Flohwalzer) entries in the [German National Library](/source/German_National_Library) catalogue - [Tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uez_A7r0Klc) on [YouTube](/source/YouTube_video_(identifier)) - [Animated score](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf-fpDQncKM) on YouTube - [12 variations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5O0EuWmLgM) on YouTube, Jean Panajotoff - [Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIsi6lBRgzo) on YouTube, variations and parodies by [Dmitry Malikov](/source/Dmitry_Malikov) - ["Flohwalzer", four-hands virtuoso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvFdUCoqhrY) on YouTube Authority control databases International VIAF GND Other MusicBrainz work 2 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Flohwalzer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flohwalzer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flohwalzer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.