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Slavonic Dances (arr Johnson)

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Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Dvořák (arr. Clair Johnson)


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General Info

Year: 1878 / 1960
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano Four-Hands
Publisher: Rubank
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.


Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The Slavonic Dances (Czech: Slovanské tance) are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886, and published in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72, respectively. Originally written for piano four hands, the Slavonic Dances were inspired by Johannes Brahms's own Hungarian Dances and were orchestrated at the request of Dvořák's publisher soon after composition. The pieces, lively and overtly nationalistic, were well received at the time and today are among the composer's most memorable works, occasionally making appearances in popular culture.

Prior to the publication of the Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Dvořák was a relatively unknown composer and was of modest means. Consequently, he had applied for the Austrian State Prize fellowship (German `Stipendium') in order to fund his composing work. After he won the prize three times in four years (1874, 1876–77), Johannes Brahms, as one of the members of the committee responsible for awarding the stipend, referred Dvořák to his own publisher, Fritz Simrock. The first of Dvořák's music to be published by Simrock was the Moravian Duets, which attained widespread success; encouraged, Simrock asked the composer to write something with a dance-like character.

Unsure how to begin, Dvořák used Brahms's Hungarian Dances as a model -- but only as a model; there are a number of important differences between the two works. For example, whereas Brahms made use of actual Hungarian folk melodies, Dvořák only made use of the characteristic rhythms of Slavic folk music: the melodies are entirely his own. Simrock was immediately impressed by the music Dvořák produced (originally for piano four hands), and asked the composer for an orchestral version as well. Both versions were published within the year, and quickly established Dvořák's international reputation. The enormous success of the Opus 46 dances led Simrock to request another set of Slavonic Dances in 1886; Dvořák's subsequent Opus 72 dances met with a similar reception.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media

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State Ratings

  • Iowa: III
  • Michigan: Junior High A
  • Minnesota: III
  • North Carolina: IV
  • Tennessee: IV
  • West Virginia: III


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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