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 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 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 passage that leads back to the main theme and the tonic. In 1984, critic Edward Rothstein said that Joseph Smith "made a compelling case for taking them seriously as a unified cycle."Edward Rothstein, "Music: Joseph Smith", '' The New York Times'', 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 1865 compositions