''Legends'' (),
Op. 59,
B. 117 , 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
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
composer
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
. 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: " ieces of musicfor two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themselves." In American usage th ...
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:
* String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
(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 publishi ...
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 ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and partly in
Vysoká u Příbrami
Vysoká may refer to places:
Czech Republic
*Vysoká (Bruntál District), a municipality and village in the Moravian-Silesian Region
*Vysoká (Havlíčkův Brod District), a municipality and village in the Vysočina Region
*Vysoká (Hostýn-Vset� ...
.
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. Hi ...
, 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 () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...
(Nos. 1, 3, 4), under the baton of Antonín Bennewitz
Antonín Bennewitz (also Anton Bennewitz; 26 March 1833 – 29 May 1926) was a Bohemian violinist, conductor, and teacher. He was in a line of violinists that extended back to Giovanni Battista Viotti, and forward to Jan Kubelík and Wolfgang ...
. Three more of the "Legends" (Nos. 2, 5, 6) were premiered at a concert of the Vienna Philharmonic
Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) 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. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...
on 26 November 1882, conducted by Wilhelm Jahn
Wilhelm Jahn (24 November 1835 in Dvorce – 21 April 1900 in Vienna) was an Austrian conductor.
Life
Jahn served as director of the Vienna Court Opera from 1880 to 1897 and principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from 1882 ...
.
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
*
*
External links
Info on a comprehensive Dvorak site
*
Compositions by Antonín Dvořák
Compositions for piano four-hands
1881 compositions
{{classical-composition-stub