Valses Mexicanos - Sobre Las Olas (Over The Waves) by Juventino Rosas (Piano)

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The waltz originated in Germany and became the rage of European dance music. It was the lively and exuberant Viennese waltzes of the Strauss Family that reigned supreme in Europe. The waltz was introduced by the Europeans to Latin America, where it absorbed the rhythms and melodic influences of Latin American indigenous music. The Latin American waltz took on a slower and more sentimental tempo, more akin to the English waltz rather than the Viennese style.

Mexican Music was influenced heavily by Spain. Spanish musical elements were often mixed with indigenious folk rhythms. However, the mexican waltz was the result of Viennese influence. Towards the later part of the nineteenth century, there was a craze for the Viennese waltz, and to meet this new-found demand, a number of composers started to churn out Viennese waltzes. Most of these composers and their waltzes have been forgotten, with the notable exception of one: Juventino Rosas and his waltz "Sobre las Olas" (or "Over the Waves").

"Sobre las Olas" (or "Over the Waves") is possibly the best-known Latin American waltz known to the world, although many people think it is a Viennese waltz, some even attributing it to Johann Strauss Jr. It was written by an obscure Mexican composer, Juventino Rosas, and this waltz is more Viennese than many Viennese waltzes.

José Juventino Policarpo Rosas Cadenas (25 January 1868 – 9 July 1894) was a Mexican composer and violinist. He was a fairly prolific composer but most of his works have been forgotten or lost.He died at the age of 26 years while on tour in Cuba, suffering from spinal myelitis.

Though dying at a very young age and with most of his works forgotten, Juventino Rosas has been immortalised by this waltz. Over The Waves was written in a forest beside a stream. The title refers to the rocking motion, like in a boat over the waves, in the first waltz. This first waltz is repeated in the ending.