Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 1 | Stefan Soltész and the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra

Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G Minor, WoO 1, is one of the most emblematic of the composer’s 21 Hungarian Dances. It is performed here by the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Stefan Soltész at the Beethovenfest Bonn 2021.

Music in the “Hungarian style” (style hongrois) was very fashionable in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) was among those who were very enthusiastic about it, with its characteristic irregular rhythms, parallel thirds and tempo rubato. Born in Hamburg, Brahms had become acquainted with Hungarian music at a young age, when hundreds of Hungarian rebels had fled from Austrian troops and were waiting in the Hanseatic city for ships that would take them to exile in America. In 1853, Brahms also became acquainted with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi, and the two embarked on a concert tour of northern Germany and to Weimar. When Brahms published the first ten of his total of 21 Hungarian Dances in 1869, there was a copyright dispute with Reményi, who thought that Brahms had appropriated the melodies he had improvised.

Whether plagiarized or not, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances made him famous and he expanded the cycle, which was originally composed for piano four hands, several times and re-instrumented individual pieces. Through Brahms, the Hungarian-sounding melodies, which were actually not original folk music but rather folksy popular music, were transferred into the classical-romantic repertoire.

The Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G Minor (Allegro molto) captivates with its rousing drive, which leads you through whirlwind of moods: passionate, melancholic and dance-like/playful all in one.

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