Sixteen Waltzes (German; ''Sechzehn Walzer''), Op. 39, is a set of 16 short

waltzes The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wal ...

for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

written by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

. They were composed in 1865, and published in 1866, dedicated to the music 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 ...

Background

These waltzes were written for

piano four hands Piano four hands (french: À quatre mains, german: Zu vier Händen, Vierhändig, it, a quattro mani) is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is ...

, and were also arranged for piano solo by the composer, in two different versions – difficult and simplified. The three versions were published at the same time, and sold well, contrary to the composer's expectations. The waltzes were written while the composer lived in Vienna, a city where he would permanently settle in 1872.Todd, R. Larry.
Nineteenth-Century Piano Music
', p. 372 (Routledge, 2013) They were intended as a tribute to the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

dance form which had become especially fashionable in his adopted city.

Characteristics

In the solo versions, some of the

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

were altered from the original

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

version (the last four in the difficult version and No. 6 in the easy version). Waltz Number 15 in

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

(or A) has acquired a life of its own, as likely the most popular piece in the collection. An arrangement of five of the waltzes (Nos. 1, 2, 11, 14, and 15) for two pianos, four hands was published after the composer's death. Almost all of the waltzes are in a recapitulating binary form. For each waltz, the first half moves to the dominant, the

relative major In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...

, or a substitute key. Then, the second half begins with a

developmental Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitosi ...

passage that leads back to the main

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

and the tonic. In 1984, critic Edward Rothstein said that

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

"made a compelling case for taking them seriously as a unified cycle."Edward Rothstein, "Music: Joseph Smith", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 29, 1984, p. C28

Waltzes

The 16 waltzes listed here are played by

Martha Goldstein Martha Goldstein (born Martha Svendsen; June 10, 1919 – February 14, 2014) was an American harpsichordist and pianist, who gave concerts in the United States, North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. She performed works by George Frideric Han ...

: :

References

Bibliography

* Winfried Kirsch, ''Die Klavierwalzer op. 39 von Johannes Brahms und ihre Tradition''. In "Jahrbuch des Staatlichen Institut für Musikforschung, Preußischer Kulturbesitz". II, 1969. * Marina Caracciolo, ''Brahms e il Walzer. Storia e lettura critica''. LIM, Libreria Musicale Italiana, Lucca, 2004. * Ignaz Mendelssohn, in ''Zur Entwicklung des Walzers'', "Studien zur Musikwissenschaft"; XIV (1926). * Eduard Hanslick, ''Waffenruhe am Klavier'', Neue freie Presse, Wien, August 1866.

External links

*
Listening guide
for all four versions of the waltzes {{Authority control Compositions by Johannes Brahms Compositions for piano four-hands

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

1865 compositions