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Selected "Hungarian Dances" for Piano, Four Hands
Johannes Brahms
  • Born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg
  • Died April 3, 1897, in Vienna
  • Composed in 1868 and 1880
  • Duration: 9 minutes

Brahms’s Hungarian Dances remain among his most popular and successful works. They have been arranged, performed, and recorded regularly by orchestras, solo pianists, and solo violinists. Moreover, they have become staples of children’s group recitals and are nothing less than synonymous with the German composer himself. But what may not be as well-known is the fact that they were originally composed for four hands; only later did Brahms arrange all 21 Hungarian Dances for solo piano and a few for orchestra. The variety of instrumentations we know today are more popular than the original versions—an important reminder that engaging with classical repertoire in different instrumentations does not constitute a dilution of quality, technique, or authenticity.

The Hungarian Dances were published in two sets of two. The first two books were published in 1868, followed by the third and fourth in 1880. The genesis of this work was in 1850, following Brahms’s touring with Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and his study of Eastern European and Romani folk music. Ranging in character, technique, and degrees of interaction between performers, both the more popular dances (for example, No. 1, No. 5, or No. 17) and their less frequently performed counterparts illustrate the collaborative possibilities between pianists that is not always thoroughly explored in today’s standard programming.

Selected "Hungarian Dances" for Piano, Four Hands
Johannes Brahms
  • Born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg
  • Died April 3, 1897, in Vienna
  • Composed in 1868 and 1880
  • Duration: 9 minutes

Brahms’s Hungarian Dances remain among his most popular and successful works. They have been arranged, performed, and recorded regularly by orchestras, solo pianists, and solo violinists. Moreover, they have become staples of children’s group recitals and are nothing less than synonymous with the German composer himself. But what may not be as well-known is the fact that they were originally composed for four hands; only later did Brahms arrange all 21 Hungarian Dances for solo piano and a few for orchestra. The variety of instrumentations we know today are more popular than the original versions—an important reminder that engaging with classical repertoire in different instrumentations does not constitute a dilution of quality, technique, or authenticity.

The Hungarian Dances were published in two sets of two. The first two books were published in 1868, followed by the third and fourth in 1880. The genesis of this work was in 1850, following Brahms’s touring with Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and his study of Eastern European and Romani folk music. Ranging in character, technique, and degrees of interaction between performers, both the more popular dances (for example, No. 1, No. 5, or No. 17) and their less frequently performed counterparts illustrate the collaborative possibilities between pianists that is not always thoroughly explored in today’s standard programming.