This dance is in the first of the four books that house the 21 works comprising Brahms' Hungarian Dances for piano, four-hands. Unlike Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams, and other later composers devoted to exposing the riches of folk music, Brahms was less interested in accurately presenting the native elements of the folk idiom. Instead, he used its sonic flavors and character to mix with his own unique style to yield a sort of colorful hybrid. Thus, as in this D minor Hungarian Dance, one hears a good measure of folk-ish character, but molded into a recognizably Brahmsian product. The work opens with a vigorous, rhythmic theme of Hungarian flavor that, upon each appearance, gradually loses its initial momentum and turns slower and more ponderous. The middle section is comprised of a theme that again exhibits a certain Eastern European exoticism, but also, ironically, divulges a noticeable resemblance to the popular beginner's piano piece Chopsticks. But Brahms makes the music here go at a frantic pace and infuses it with much color. The work closes after a re-appearance of the main material. This D minor Hungarian Dance typically has a duration of three minutes.

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While Brahms generally tailored the folk sources he used for his Hungarian Dances (21) to suit his own idiom, he often allowed their colors to shine vividly and nearly overshadow his usually dominant voice. This F major effort is such a case: the folk flavors, while hardly coming through in their original guise, retain their playful manner and inspire Brahms to spice their sounds with some very exotic harmonies, especially in the accompaniment of the alternate theme. The piece opens with a jaunty, playful theme whose carefree character and sense of merriment convey their Hungarian spirit with a zestful spirit. But this opening melody also has an innocence in its nonchalance and cheer; the alternate theme, however, offers a healthy measure of good-natured mischief. On its second appearance, this gruffly chipper creation builds to an explosion of festivity, the rollicking music having the air of a full-blown peasant celebration. The piece concludes with a return to the main theme and to the infectious character of its jaunty, joyous manner. This work typically has a duration of two-and-a-half minutes.

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In many ways, this F minor effort is typical of the works in the first two books of the four that comprise Brahms' Hungarian Dances (21) for piano, four-hands: it exhibits genuine, if slightly bleached ethnic colors that deftly blend with the lighter side of Brahms' unique keyboard style. In the end, the mixture produced is an attractive one, exhibiting both exotic flair and a recognizably Brahmsian character. That said, this work may slightly tilt in favor of the ethnic elements, at least in the outer sections. Even there, though, the composer's imaginative harmonies are always in evidence. The main theme has a deliberately saccharine melancholy, which it only too happily sheds in favor of festivity and bright colors when the tempo accelerates. The music in the middle section manages to straddle gracefulness and rollicking celebration, its upper-register arpeggiated theme playfully dancing at the outset, then turning wild. The main material is heard once more before the piece ends in the midst of launching another celebration. At about four minutes, this is perhaps the longest of the Hungarian Dances.

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This is one of the shorter dances among the 21 in the famous set of Hungarian Dances that Brahms composed for piano, four-hands. Though its thematic sources are Hungarian, its character is more Brahmsian, less overtly folkish, like several of the works in the four books comprising the set. Brahms typically adapted the source themes to suit his own style, not necessarily to retain the ethnic spirit of the melody. Here, one hears a pastoral festive character in the jaunty main theme, but it might just as well be depicting a celebration in the German countryside as in the Hungarian Plains or Gypsy camps. The piece opens with a playful, mischievous theme, moderately paced in its strutting gait. Gradually, the music develops more color and a greater sense of animation, even if the tempo does not increase. The second subject imparts a festive mood and high spirits, and the ensuing brief middle section comes across as pure Brahms in its light, almost mocking manner as the music purports to turn serious for a moment. The main material makes another appearance and the piece ends in a chipper mood. This work typically has a duration of about a minute-and-a-half.

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This dance is in the first of the four books that house the 21 works comprising Brahms' Hungarian Dances for piano, four-hands. Unlike Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams, and other later composers devoted to exposing the riches of folk music, Brahms was less interested in accurately presenting the native elements of the folk idiom. Instead, he used its sonic flavors and character to mix with his own unique style to yield a sort of colorful hybrid. Thus, as in this D minor Hungarian Dance, one hears a good measure of folk-ish character, but molded into a recognizably Brahmsian product. The work opens with a vigorous, rhythmic theme of Hungarian flavor that, upon each appearance, gradually loses its initial momentum and turns slower and more ponderous. The middle section is comprised of a theme that again exhibits a certain Eastern European exoticism, but also, ironically, divulges a noticeable resemblance to the popular beginner's piano piece Chopsticks. But Brahms makes the music here go at a frantic pace and infuses it with much color. The work closes after a re-appearance of the main material. This D minor Hungarian Dance typically has a duration of three minutes.

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Brahms' Hungarian Dances total 21 in number and are divided into four books, the first three containing five each and the last having six. The composer used Hungarian gypsy melodies and styles in fashioning these colorful pieces. Books I and II were issued first and seem to feature a greater reliance on folk material and flavors than the latter two. One of the most conspicuously gypsy-flavored pieces in either set is this G minor dance, No. 5.

This work contains one of the most famous themes Brahms ever wrote—or, rather, arranged. It is a vigorous and playful tune whose exotic elements veer close to certain Yiddish styles. After its first notes the melody has a mostly descending contour, though it always remains festive in mood. Its secondary subjects are more celebratory, sometimes in an almost ecstatic manner. This melody has been made famous by many uses in movies, television, and even cartoons. In sum, this is a fine light piece of thoroughly memorable character.

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This is the first work in Book II of the Hungarian Dances for piano, four hands. There are four volumes housing the 21 dances, the first three having five dances each and the last, six. All are quite light works, but all of their folk-ish inspiration are not explorations in folk music the way Bartók's many adaptations are. Rather, Brahms molded ethnically sourced themes into his own idiom and in some dances (Nos. 11, 14, and 16), even wrote his own melodies in Hungarian folk styles, at least according to his violin virtuoso friend Joachim. This D flat major effort is one of the more colorful works, with nothing in its folk-ish character that could be construed as ersatz, even if Brahms sculpts it to his order. The work opens with a deliberately paced, jaunty theme of carefree character, which often lurches ahead without warning to turn rollicking and festive. The exotically flavored middle section theme also begins at a moderate pace in muscular and emphatic chords, but cannot resist bolting headlong into further lively celebration. The main material returns for more color and festivity before ending in high spirits. This work typically has a duration of three minutes.

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In many ways, this F minor effort is typical of the works in the first two books of the four that comprise Brahms' Hungarian Dances (21) for piano, four-hands: it exhibits genuine, if slightly bleached ethnic colors that deftly blend with the lighter side of Brahms' unique keyboard style. In the end, the mixture produced is an attractive one, exhibiting both exotic flair and a recognizably Brahmsian character. That said, this work may slightly tilt in favor of the ethnic elements, at least in the outer sections. Even there, though, the composer's imaginative harmonies are always in evidence. The main theme has a deliberately saccharine melancholy, which it only too happily sheds in favor of festivity and bright colors when the tempo accelerates. The music in the middle section manages to straddle gracefulness and rollicking celebration, its upper-register arpeggiated theme playfully dancing at the outset, then turning wild. The main material is heard once more before the piece ends in the midst of launching another celebration. At about four minutes, this is perhaps the longest of the Hungarian Dances.

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Brahms originally published his Hungarian Dances as two batches of piano duets in 1869 (numbers 1-10) and 1880 (the remainder). They were quite successful at the time, but they've become best known in their later orchestral guises. Just how firmly Brahms' name can be attached to this music is a matter of some small argument. Brahms himself dressed only numbers 1, 3, and 10 in orchestral garb, and he refused to take credit for the melodies in the keyboard versions; he referred to them merely as arrangements. Yet the resulting dances are fairly far removed from their original Magyar folk and Gypsy forms—Brahms didn't quite understand the difference between the two—and tend to be more elegant and well crafted than the more commercial café-style music that most strongly influenced Brahms here. Numbers 11, 14, and 16 seem to be wholly original pieces.

Almost all the pieces depend on sudden contrasts between restraint and explosive energy, but the two original groups of pieces (actually, each group consists of two sets of dances) have rather distinct characters. The first ten dances are, in general, the more lively, while the final 11 tend to emphasize the melancholy aspects of Hungarian music.

The three dances Brahms orchestrated are, like the composer's other works, reluctant to indulge in splashy effects. The five orchestrated by Antonin Dvorák—numbers 17 through 21—though lying in the "melancholy" half of the dances, share the instrumental exuberance of the Czech composer's Slavonic Dances, especially the way Dvorák often sends the violins into their high register.

Bandmaster Albert Parlow orchestrated numbers 11 through 16; these versions depend on a lush but not heavy string sound, with woodwinds and brass used for accents with a Brahmsian restraint. The remainder fell to several different hands. Martin Schmeling orchestrated numbers 5—the most popular of all—through 7, making more liberal use of triangle and cymbals than the other orchestrators. Hans Gál, remembered for his editions of Brahms' piano scores, orchestrated numbers 8 and 9 with a good ear for woodwinds. The series is completed by Swedish conductor Johan Andreas Hallén's treatment of the second dance, and Russo-German composer Paul Juon's orchestration of the fourth.

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Brahms may have first become exposed to Hungarian gypsy music as early as 1850, thanks to his friend, the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi. The first two of the four books that contain the 21 Hungarian Dances were finished by 1868, when Brahms and Clara Schumann introduced them at a private concert. The remaining two books were completed the following year. While most have strong folk flavors, this G minor effort, the first piece in Book I, also manages to sound much like Brahms' more serious piano music, especially in its opening theme.

That melody is nervous and hasty, sounding somewhat dark and agitated. Subsidiary elements clearly divulge a gypsy character as the music turns more playful, seeming intentionally disjointed in its shifting tempos and colors. The main theme returns to close the piece, not veering from the anxious demeanor of the opening. Brahms may have placed this piece first because of its slightly less overtly folkish manner, as if in hopes of gradually introducing Germanic ears to the more alien and colorful sound world of the Hungarian gypsies.

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This is one of the shorter dances among the 21 in the famous set of Hungarian Dances that Brahms composed for piano, four-hands. Though its thematic sources are Hungarian, its character is more Brahmsian, less overtly folkish, like several of the works in the four books comprising the set. Brahms typically adapted the source themes to suit his own style, not necessarily to retain the ethnic spirit of the melody. Here, one hears a pastoral festive character in the jaunty main theme, but it might just as well be depicting a celebration in the German countryside as in the Hungarian Plains or Gypsy camps. The piece opens with a playful, mischievous theme, moderately paced in its strutting gait. Gradually, the music develops more color and a greater sense of animation, even if the tempo does not increase. The second subject imparts a festive mood and high spirits, and the ensuing brief middle section comes across as pure Brahms in its light, almost mocking manner as the music purports to turn serious for a moment. The main material makes another appearance and the piece ends in a chipper mood. This work typically has a duration of about a minute-and-a-half.

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This is the first work in Book II of the Hungarian Dances for piano, four hands. There are four volumes housing the 21 dances, the first three having five dances each and the last, six. All are quite light works, but all of their folk-ish inspiration are not explorations in folk music the way Bartók's many adaptations are. Rather, Brahms molded ethnically sourced themes into his own idiom and in some dances (Nos. 11, 14, and 16), even wrote his own melodies in Hungarian folk styles, at least according to his violin virtuoso friend Joachim. This D flat major effort is one of the more colorful works, with nothing in its folk-ish character that could be construed as ersatz, even if Brahms sculpts it to his order. The work opens with a deliberately paced, jaunty theme of carefree character, which often lurches ahead without warning to turn rollicking and festive. The exotically flavored middle section theme also begins at a moderate pace in muscular and emphatic chords, but cannot resist bolting headlong into further lively celebration. The main material returns for more color and festivity before ending in high spirits. This work typically has a duration of three minutes.

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###

Brahms' Hungarian Dances total 21 in number and are divided into four books, the first three containing five each and the last having six. The composer used Hungarian gypsy melodies and styles in fashioning these colorful pieces. Books I and II were issued first and seem to feature a greater reliance on folk material and flavors than the latter two. One of the most conspicuously gypsy-flavored pieces in either set is this G minor dance, No. 5.

This work contains one of the most famous themes Brahms ever wrote—or, rather, arranged. It is a vigorous and playful tune whose exotic elements veer close to certain Yiddish styles. After its first notes the melody has a mostly descending contour, though it always remains festive in mood. Its secondary subjects are more celebratory, sometimes in an almost ecstatic manner. This melody has been made famous by many uses in movies, television, and even cartoons. In sum, this is a fine light piece of thoroughly memorable character.

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Brahms completed these 21 dances for piano, four hands, in 1869. They are divided into four books, the first two of which were completed by 1868, at which time Brahms and Clara Schumann premiered them at a private gathering, on November 1. Each contained five dances, while Books III and IV were comprised of five and six dances, respectively. These were first performed in 1880, also by the composer and Clara Schumann.

Brahms used Hungarian Gypsy folk material in these pieces, having been introduced to it around 1850 by Hungarian violinist Ede Remenyi. However, some of the themes were Brahms' own, but retained Hungarian Gypsy flavors. Joachim claimed that Nos. 11, 14, and 16 were strictly of the composer's own devising. In 1872, Brahms arranged the first ten dances for solo piano, calling them simply Ten Hungarian Dances. A year later he adapted three of the dances for orchestra, Nos. 1, 3, and 10. Other arrangers later transcribed the dances for orchestra and various ensembles, as the music grew more popular.

The First Dance, in G minor, certainly has a Gypsy flavor in its lively exoticism. But, like many, it is also Brahmsian: the composer took so well to this idiom because it was not alien to his nature, as evidenced by his G minor Piano Quartet and Violin Concerto, both of which seem to incorporate these folkish elements naturally into their fabric.

The playful No. 3, in F major, is another gem, both for its subtlety and vibrant colors. No. 5, in F sharp minor, is one of the most famous in the set, containing one of those themes that virtually every man and woman on the street has heard in one guise or other. The humor and lively style of No. 7, in A major, make it attractive, but it sounds less the product of folk influence. The ensuing dance, in A minor, sounds somewhat the product of a Lisztian treatment. Book II's closing item, No. 10 in E major, is vibrant and joyous, full of color and rhythmic appeal. No wonder Brahms was moved to orchestrate it.

Brahms felt that the latter two books were superior to the first pair. Most musicologists would probably agree. The very first item, No. 11, in A minor, has a more subtle expressive manner than most in the previous books. It is less overtly folkish, as are Nos. 12 and 14, both in D minor. On average the 11 pieces in the final two books are also shorter and less colorful, though they possess greater depth.

That said, the B flat major No. 15 returns to the style of the earlier books, showing more color and brighter moods. The rollicking F minor dance that follows is quite attractive and also sounds less Gypsy-influenced. No. 17, in F sharp minor, shows an array of colors and moods. The remaining four are fairly short, but all quite worthwhile.

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Brahms may have first become exposed to Hungarian gypsy music as early as 1850, thanks to his friend, the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi. The first two of the four books that contain the 21 Hungarian Dances were finished by 1868, when Brahms and Clara Schumann introduced them at a private concert. The remaining two books were completed the following year. While most have strong folk flavors, this G minor effort, the first piece in Book I, also manages to sound much like Brahms' more serious piano music, especially in its opening theme.

That melody is nervous and hasty, sounding somewhat dark and agitated. Subsidiary elements clearly divulge a gypsy character as the music turns more playful, seeming intentionally disjointed in its shifting tempos and colors. The main theme returns to close the piece, not veering from the anxious demeanor of the opening. Brahms may have placed this piece first because of its slightly less overtly folkish manner, as if in hopes of gradually introducing Germanic ears to the more alien and colorful sound world of the Hungarian gypsies.

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