Johannes Brahms
Selected Hungarian Dances for Violin and Piano (arr. Joachim)

- Composed in 1868, arranged by Joseph Joachim in 1868–72
- Duration: 8 minutes

 In 1869 Johannes Brahms published two books of Hungarian Dances, with a second pair following in 1880. These mid-life collections were an exercise in nostalgia, representing Brahms’s lifelong interest in folk culture, which started as early as his teenage years when his voracious appetite for reading led him to literature centered on folk themes. This expanded into folk and Romani music when he befriended the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi, who was just five years his senior. Reményi was active in the Hungarian nationalist movement and would spend most of his life performing and promoting Hungarian folk and Romani music. Its syncopations and lyricism appealed deeply to Brahms, and he and Reményi kicked off the new year in 1853 with a recital that they expanded into a tour throughout the spring. That May, Brahms would turn 20, and the following months would prove to be more pivotal than he could have imagined. First, he met the violinist Joseph Joachim, who became an important friend and colleague. Then, in September, he met Robert and Clara Schumann. Barely one month later, Robert published an article titled “New Paths,” describing Brahms in mythological terms as an emerging heroic figure of creative bravura. It pushed Brahms into the spotlight and launched a new era in his burgeoning career. 

Decades later, when Brahms returned to the Hungarian Dances, he was a famous man. The dances proved to be a commercial success and continue to be among his most popular works to this day. Originally published for piano duet, they have been arranged for a broad variety of instrumental combinations. Perhaps indicating both their audience appeal and personal meaning, it was the Hungarian Dance No. 1 that Brahms chose to play when a representative of Thomas Edison recorded him at the piano, immortalizing the moment for all time. 

Collectively, the more than 20 Hungarian Dances traverse a range of moods, though each one homes in on a particular set of characteristics. The Hungarian Dance No. 1 pairs a spacious yet pulsating alto melody in the violin with a flittering cascade of notes in the piano. In its middle section, the violin pivots to execute its own cascades. No. 2 is accented with bold embellishments that dissipate into melancholy musings with a scurrying contrasting section. The final selection on this program is No. 7, which possesses a playful spirit; it tiptoes up to its melody and slowly builds momentum before bursting into effervescent brilliance in its middle, ending with a repeat of the opening that rushes to conclude with a flourish. 

Program note © Kathryn Bacasmot