Three Bavarian Dances, Op. 27, is an orchestral work by Edward Elgar. It is an arrangement for orchestra of three of the set of six songs titled '' From the Bavarian Highlands''. The original song lyrics were written by the composer’s wife Alice, as a memento of a holiday the Elgars had enjoyed in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

, mostly at

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Ob ...

, in the autumn of 1894. As well as the titles, Alice Elgar gave the songs sub-titles in recollection of favourite places visited during the holiday. The suite was first performed on 23 October 1897, conducted by Elgar in one of August Manns' concerts at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' stated that Elgar conducted the Dances 'in first-rate style', and Manns the rest of the programme. The three dances are: *"The Dance (Sonnenbichl)"Sonnenbichl is a district in Garmisch – ''Allegretto giocoso'' 3/8

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable composi ...

\relative c' \new Staff \with *"Lullaby (In Hammersbach)" – ''Moderato'' 3/4

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

\relative c' \new Staff \with *"The Marksmen (Bei Murnau)" – ''Allegro vivace'' 3/4 G major \relative c' \new Staff \with All three dances are characteristic of the composer. The first is bright and robust, the second is Elgar in his gentle pastoral vein, with a wistful melody for the horn, and the third – the longest (about four and a half minutes) – is an Elgar finale in miniature, lively at first, then broadening and finally quickening to end in a blaze of orchestral colour.

References

Sources

The Elgar Society website
(consulted January 2007) *Percy Young: sleeve note to EMI recording ASD 2356 (1968) * *Score, Elgar: Three Bavarian Dances, Joseph Williams, London, 1901

External links

* * {{Authority control Compositions by Edward Elgar 1897 compositions