“Waves of the Danube” is a famous waltz com­posed in 1880 by Roman­ian com­pos­er of ser­bian ori­gin Iosif Ivanovi­ci. Orig­i­nal­ly titled “Val­urile Dunarii”, the piece cap­tures the flow­ing beau­ty and rhythm of the Danube Riv­er. First pub­lished in Bucharest, it gained inter­na­tion­al pop­u­lar­i­ty when it was pub­lished in Vien­na (under the name Donauwellen) and soon became a favorite in ball­rooms across Europe. In the 1940s, it found new life in Amer­i­can pop­u­lar cul­ture, notably being adapt­ed into the song “The Anniver­sary Song” with lyrics by Al Jol­son and Saul Chaplin.