''Legends'', Op. 59, B. 117 ( cs, Legendy), is a forty-minute group of ten pieces by the
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
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* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
composer
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
. They were written in early 1881 for
piano duet
According to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', there are two kinds of piano duet: "those for two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themself." In American usage the former is ...
and reset later that year for a reduced
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
(B. 122).
Background
On 15 October 1880, the day before finishing the score of his
sixth symphony, Dvořák wrote to his publisher
Fritz Simrock
Friedrich August Simrock, better known as Fritz Simrock (January 2, 1837 in Bonn – August 20, 1901 in Ouchy) was a German music publisher who inherited a publishing firm from his grandfather Nikolaus Simrock. Simrock is most noted for publishing ...
about his plans for the near future saying he hoped to finish a piano duet cycle, "Legends," in the next month.
[Score, p. V] He did not, however, begin to sketch the work until 30 January 1881. The definitive shape of the piano version was created from 12 February to 23 March 1881, partly in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and partly in
Vysoká u Příbrami.
Dvořák dedicated the composition to the critic
Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...
, who praised the cycle with great enthusiasm.
[ The piano duet version was printed by the German publishing house Simrock in mid-1881. In that same year Dvořák arranged the cycle for orchestra. The orchestration differs in every individual piece. The work was premiered in 1882, at the concert of the ]Prague Conservatory
The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...
(Nos. 1, 3, 4), under the baton of Antonín Bennewitz. Three more of the "Legends" (Nos. 2, 5, 6) were premiered at a concert of the Vienna Philharmonic
The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...
on 26 November 1882, conducted by Wilhelm Jahn
Wilhelm Jahn (24 November 1835 in Dvorce (Bruntál District), Dvorce – 21 April 1900 in Vienna) was an Austrians, Austrian conducting, conductor.
Life
Jahn served as director of the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Court Opera from 1880 to 1897 and ...
.
Structure
The cycle consists of ten pieces:
# Allegretto non troppo, quasi andantino (in D minor)
# Molto moderato (in G major)
# Allegro giusto (in G minor)
# Molto maestoso (in C major)
# Allegro giusto (in A major)
# Allegro con moto (in C minor)
# Allegretto grazioso (in A major)
# Un poco allegretto (in F major)
# Andante con moto (in D major)
# Andante (in B minor)
The approximate duration is 40 minutes.
Note: No. 7 (''Allegretto grazioso'', A major) was originally to have been the third piece, but Dvorak shifted it to its ultimate position before publication.[Recent edition published by Kalmus which includes editorial notes.]
Notes
References
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*
External links
Info on a comprehensive Dvorak site
*
Compositions by Antonín Dvořák
Compositions for piano four-hands
1881 compositions
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