Brahms 21 Hungarian Dances

Program Notes & Analysis

A Master's Defense: Arrangement, Not Plagiarism

In his early twenties, a young, impoverished Johannes Brahms scraped together a living by touring as a piano accompanist. His partner for a time was the flamboyant Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi, who introduced him to the passionate, wild, and rhythmically intoxicating world of style hongrois, or "Gypsy" music. Years later, after Brahms published his wildly successful Hungarian Dances based on the tunes from this period, Reményi and others publicly accused him of plagiarism, claiming the melodies as their own. Brahms, however, had been meticulously careful. He had insisted his publisher label the works not as "compositions" but as "arrangements" (gesetzt). His defense was simple and brilliant: he had never claimed to have invented these unforgettable tunes. His genius, he knew, lay in what he did with them. He was the master jeweler who had taken rough, beautiful stones from the earth and cut them into dazzling, perfectly set gems for the concert hall.

The Allure of Style Hongrois

In the 19th century, European composers like Franz Liszt were captivated by the folk music of Hungary, particularly the music performed by Romani ensembles. This style hongrois was characterized by its extreme emotional contrasts: from slow, deeply melancholic introductions (lassan) to fast, frenzied conclusions (friska). It featured distinctive syncopated rhythms, elaborate ornamentation, the use of unique scales (the "Gypsy scale"), and a feeling of passionate, quasi-improvisational freedom. For Brahms, a composer so rooted in logic and structure, this music represented an irresistible taste of the exotic and the untamed.

From Piano Duet to Orchestral Masterpiece

The Hungarian Dances began their life not as orchestral works, but as pieces for piano four-hands. This was the primary form of domestic music-making in the 19th century, and the publication of the first book of ten dances in 1869 was an unprecedented commercial success. They flew off the shelves, making Brahms a household name across Europe and finally providing him with financial security. The demand for orchestral versions was immediate and overwhelming. While he was hesitant at first, Brahms himself orchestrated three of the most popular dances: Nos. 1, 3, and 10. He entrusted the orchestration of several others to his dear friend and protégé, Antonín Dvořák, who was himself a master of incorporating folk idioms into his music.

A Spotlight on the Most Famous Dances

While all 21 dances are miniature gems, several have become iconic staples of the classical repertoire. Dance No. 1 in G minor: The collection opens with this dramatic and brooding dance. Brahms's own orchestration is masterful, using dark woodwind colors and tense string tremolos to build an atmosphere of intense longing before erupting into a passionate, fiery conclusion. Dance No. 5 in G minor: This is, without question, the most famous of the set, a whirlwind of kinetic energy. Its main theme, which many people believe Brahms composed, is now thought to be based on a csárdás by the Hungarian composer Béla Kéler. Regardless of its origin, Brahms's treatment is definitive. The extreme and sudden shifts in tempo, from moments of feigned hesitation to passages of breathless velocity, perfectly encapsulate the wild spirit of the Hungarian csárdás. Dance No. 6 in D Major: This dance is notable for its swaggering, confident rhythm and its more lyrical, almost Viennese, charm in the central section. It showcases a more playful and relaxed character compared to the fiery drama of its minor-key siblings. Dance No. 17 in F-sharp minor: With its beautiful, sighing violinistic melody, this dance clearly shows the influence of Brahms's collaboration with violinists like Reményi and Joseph Joachim. It is a work of tender, almost heartbreaking melancholy, filled with the elaborate ornamentation and expressive slides characteristic of the style.

The Genius of the Arrangement

Brahms's contribution to these melodies cannot be overstated. He was not a mere transcriber. He took these simple, often unwritten tunes and imbued them with a rich harmonic language, complex inner voices, and a sophisticated formal structure they had never possessed. In the piano duet versions, he created a brilliant keyboard texture, giving both players interesting and challenging parts. In his orchestrations, he applied a masterful understanding of instrumental color to heighten the music's drama and emotional impact. He preserved the raw energy of the source material while filtering it through his own deeply romantic and structurally rigorous sensibility.

A Lasting Legacy of Fire and Feeling

The Hungarian Dances occupy a unique and cherished place in Brahms's output. They are not as structurally complex as his symphonies or as intellectually profound as his German Requiem, but they possess a direct, visceral appeal that is unmatched. They perfectly bridge the gap between folk art and concert music, popular entertainment and high romance. They legitimized the use of folk and popular music as source material for "serious" composition, paving the way for nationalists like Dvořák, Grieg, and Bartók. For over 150 years, these dances have remained an essential part of our musical landscape, beloved by performers and audiences for their irresistible passion, their heartbreaking melancholy, and their pure, unadulterated joy.