The ''Hungarian Dances'' (german: Ungarische Tänze, links=no) by Johannes Brahms (

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1), are a set of 21 lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes, completed in 1879. They vary from about a minute to five minutes in length. They are among Brahms's most popular works and were the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a wide variety of

instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano four hands (piano duet: two players using one piano) and later arranged the first ten dances for solo piano.

Background

In 1850 Brahms met the Hungarian violinist

Ede Reményi Ede Reményi or Eduard Reményi (January 17, 1828 Miskolc, Austria-Hungary May 15, 1898 San Francisco) was a Hungarian violinist and composer. His birth date is disputed, and variously given from 1828-1830. Biography Reményi was born in Miskolc ...

and accompanied him in a number of recitals over the next few years. This was his introduction to "gypsy-style" music such as the '' csardas'', which was later to prove the foundation of his most lucrative and popular compositions, the two sets of ''Hungarian Dances'' (published 1869 and 1880). Only numbers 11, 14 and 16 are entirely original compositions. The better-known Hungarian Dances include Nos. 1 and 5, the latter of which was based on the

csárdás Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary and neighboring l ...

"" (Memories of Bártfa) by Hungarian composer

Béla Kéler Béla Kéler (13 February 1820 - 20 November 1882) was a Hungarian composer of romantic music period and orchestral conductor. Béla Kéler was born as ''Albert Paul Keler'' (''Adalbert Paul von Keler).'' He is also known in Hungarian as ''Ké ...

, which Brahms mistakenly thought was a traditional folksong. A footnote on the Ludwig-Masters edition of a modern orchestration of Hungarian Dance No.1 states: "The material for this dance is believed to have come from the ''Divine Csárdás'' (ca. 1850) of Hungarian composer and conductor Miska Borzó."

List

Book 1. (published in 1869) # in G minor: Allegro molto # in D minor (orch. Hallén, 1882): Allegro non assai –

Vivace In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

# in F major: Allegretto # in F minor (F minor in Juon's 1933 orchestration): Poco sostenuto – Vivace # in F minor (G minor in Parlow's 1885 orchestration): Allegro – Vivace Book 2. (published in 1869) #

in D major (D major in Parlow's 1885 orchestration): Vivace

# in A major (F major in Brahms's solo piano arrangement): Allegretto – Vivo # in A minor: Presto # in E minor: Allegro ma non troppo # in E major (F major for orchestra): Presto Book 3. (published in 1880; Parlow's orchestrations of these six were made in 1885 without any change of key) #

in D minor: Poco andante

# in D minor: Presto # in D major: Andantino grazioso – Vivace # in D minor: Un poco andante # in B major: Allegretto grazioso # in F minor: Con moto – F major: Presto Book 4. (published in 1880; Dvorak's orchestrations of these five were made in October and November of the same year without any change of key) #

in F minor: Andantino – Vivace

# in D major: Molto vivace # in B minor: Allegretto # in E minor: Poco allegretto – Vivace # in E minor: Vivace – E major: Più presto

Orchestrations

Brahms wrote

orchestral 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, ...

arrangements for Nos.1, 3 and 10. Other composers have orchestrated the other dances. These composers include Antonín Dvořák (Nos. 17 to 21), Andreas Hallén (Nos.2, 4 and 7),

Paul Juon Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

(No.4), Martin Schmeling (1864–1943) (Nos. 5 to 7),

Hans Gál Hans Gál OBE (5 August 1890 – 3 October 1987) was an Austrian composer, pedagogue, musicologist, and author, who emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1938. Life Gál was born to a Jewish family in the small village of Brunn am Gebirge, Low ...

(Nos.8 and 9), (Nos. 5, 6 and 11 to 16) and Robert Schollum (Nos.4, 8 and 9). More recently,

Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, Ádám Fisc ...

has orchestrated the complete set. Brahms's ''Hungarian Dances'' were influential in the development of

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

. See, for example, the role of German-American piano teacher Julius Weiss in ragtime composer Scott Joplin's early life and career.

Recordings

The earliest known recording of any movement of Hungarian Dances was a condensed piano-based rendition of Hungarian Dance No. 1, from 1889, played by Brahms himself, and was known to have been recorded by

Theo Wangemann Adelbert Theodor Edward Wangemann (February 13, 1855 – June 1906), known as Theo, was a German who emigrated to the United States. In 1888, he began working for Thomas Edison as an assistant at his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1889, ...

, an assistant to

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

. The following dialogue can be heard in the recording itself, before the music starts: * Theo Wangemann: "Dezember 1889." * Johannes Brahms: "Im Haus von Herrn Doktor Fellinger bei Herrn Doktor Brahms, Johannes Brahms." (English: "In the house of Dr. Fellinger with Dr. Brahms, Johannes Brahms.")

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

, a close friend of Brahms, in collaboration with an unnamed accompanying pianist, recorded their own renditions of Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 2.

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

's very first recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra were devoted to Hungarian Dances Nos. 5 and 6. They were recorded by the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

in Camden, New Jersey in 1917. The

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

with conductor

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...

recorded Hungarian Dances Nos. 5 and 6 in

Symphony Hall, Boston Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900. Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White, it was built for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the h ...

. Hungarian Dance No. 5 was recorded on June 25, 1950. It was released by RCA Victor as catalog number 10-3254B (in USA) and by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

label as catalog number B 10631. Hungarian Dance No. 6 was recorded on June 16, 1950. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number (in the USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10631. These were 78 rpm discs. The pieces were arranged by Albert Parlow. Julius Katchen and Jean-Pierre Marty recorded the complete set in the 1960s, as part of Katchen's recording of the complete piano works of Brahms. Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky recorded them in 1976 for

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

, released originally on LP catalog number 2530 710. The French sister duo-pianists

Katia and Marielle Labèque The Labèque sisters, Katia (born 11 March 1950) and Marielle (born 6 March 1952), are an internationally known French piano duo. Biography Education and first performances Katia and Marielle were both born in Bayonne, on the southwest coast ...

recorded the complete set of dances for

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

in 1981, as catalog number 4164592. Dances Nos. 17, 19 and 21 were recorded in 1966 by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra for their album ''Orchestral Fireworks'', released in the UK on the Music For Pleasure label. The first complete orchestral versions were recorded by Mario Rossi conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 1956 and released on Vanguard Records. Robert Schollum's orchestrations of nos. 4, 8 and 9 were commissioned by Vanguard for this recording. They were again recorded by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt conducting the NDR Radio Symphony Hamburg in 1967 and released in the USA on Vanguard. The first digital by

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

and 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 ...

for

was recorded in 1982, released on LP as and on CD as . (Citation: https://www.discogs.com/release/11730199-Brahms-NDR-Symphony-Orchestra-Of-Hamburg-Hans-Schmidt-Isserstedt-Hungarian-Dances-Complete) They were again recorded digitally by and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra for

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

in 1988, released on CD as 8.550110. This recording was awarded a Rosette by '' The Penguin Guide''. Their review called this recording "sheer delight from beginning to end... an outright winner among the available versions."''2006 Penguin Guide'', p. 254 Another set of complete orchestral versions was recorded in 1998 by

conducting the

Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as ''The Times'' put it. Its aim was to mak ...

on the

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

label, released as .

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

* * * * ,

recorded on a

phonograph cylinder Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1896–1916), these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engra ...

* , Noriko Ogawa * , Chenyin Li and Iago Núñez {{Authority control Compositions by Johannes Brahms Compositions for piano four-hands Hungarian music 1869 compositions Compositions set in Hungary