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Brahms-Joachim Hungarian Dances
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Performer: Rosand, Aaron & Sung, Hugh
Composer: Brahms, Johannes / Joachim, Joseph
Brahms' collection of dances were published in two installments eleven years apart. The first set, made up of two books of five dances each, was published in 1869, a year after the premiere of the German Requiem. Since Brahms did not regard these works as original compositions, he intentionally chose not to give them an opus number. In the first edition published by Simrock they were described as 'Hungarian Dances arranged by Brahms'. Like the Liebeslieder Waltzes composed at the same time, the Hungarian Dances were scored for piano four-hands (the most popular medium for home music-making). The dances were an immediate success, and netted the publisher Simrock a small fortune. (Brahms had sold them for a fixed price with no royalties!) The dances soon appeared in a variety of different instrumental combinations including solo flute and piano, two violins and piano, piano six-hands and military band. Brahms himself transcribed all ten dances of the first set for solo piano in 1872, and Dances Nos. 1, 3, and 10 for orchestra a year later.
Joseph Joachim's arrangement of the first ten Hungarian dances for violin and piano (Books 1 & 2) appeared in 1871. A native Hungarian, Joachim was the ideal arranger of these pieces. He had an intimate understanding of the gypsy idiom, and had composed an effective violin concerto subtitled 'in the Hungarian style'. Regarded as the instrument of the gypsies, the violin captures the spirit of the Hungarian dances more effectively than the original scoring of piano four-hands. Not surprisingly Brahms welcomed Joachim's transcriptions enthusiastically.
Joachim's arrangements of the Hungarian Dances are brilliant yet idiomatic for the violin. Keys are occasionally transposed in order to utilize the natural sonority of the violin most effectively. Additional passagework is sometimes inserted (e.g. the short cadenza which employs left-hand tremolos in No. 7). Technically the dances are extremely difficult to play; Joachim employs double stops frequently and often octaves for emphasis.
The second set of Hungarian Dances, divided into two books of six and five dances respectively, was published by Simrock in 1880. Joachim's violin and piano arrangement appeared later that same year. Sadly the close friendship between Brahms and Joachim had deteriorated by this time. The circumstances of this change were triggered by a personal misunderstanding between the two artists. Joachim had suspected his wife Amalie of having an affair with Simrock, and Brahms, believing that she was unjustly accused, wrote a letter to her offering his support. When Amalie produced this letter as evidence in court Joachim regarded Brahms' action as a personal betrayal. Despite a reconciliation after Brahms' offering of the 'Double' Concerto to Joachim seven years later, the relationship was never again as close.
Looking at the Hungarian Dances as a whole it appears that the first set of dances (Books 1 & 2) is more popular today than the second (Books 3 & 4). The first ten dances incorporate the most well-known melodies, and these have become ingrained in our conception of gypsy music. Although the dances of Books 3 & 4 are not as popular as they once were, many musicians have preferred them to those of Books 1 & 2. Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, a close friend of Brahms, wrote to the composer soon after the publication of Books 3 & 4: 'Delicious as the early ones were, I hardly think you hit off the indescribable and unique character of a Hungarian band so miraculously then as now. The medley of twirls and grace-notes, this jingling whistling, gurgling clatter, is all reproduced in such a way that the piano ceases to be a piano, and one is carried right into the midst of the fiddlers.'
While not detracting from the first set of dances, it is fair to say that the second set is richer in musical material. Furthermore Book 3 contains three dances, Nos. 11, 14, and 16, whose principal melodies were composed by Brahms himself. As for Book 4 it is no small compliment to note that Dvorak orchestrated all five dances.
The lovely Romance which closes the CD is an early work by Joachim. Published as the last of a set of three short pieces, this work eloquently displays Joachim's gift of melody. The atmosphere is generally calm and peaceful but this mood is occasionally dispelled by soaring melodic lines in the violin part.
Johannes Brahms had a deep love for traditional folk music. He preferred simple folk songs to the grandiose posturings of Wagner's music dramas, and drew his inspiration from the music of the people rather than mythological figures. One of his last published works was a setting of 49 German folk songs for voice and piano, and much of his instrumental music emulates a folk-like quality (e.g. the last movement of the Sextet in B-flat). As the conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler remarked, Brahms wrote 'melodies which were genuine folk songs yet composed by Brahms.'
Brahms was also especially fascinated by Hungarian gypsy music. This interest began in his teens around the time that he formed a musical partnership with the Hungarian violinist Edouard Remenyi. A direct link to the Hungarian musical tradition, Remenyi helped pave the way for Brahms' musical career. The violinist took the 19-year old Brahms on tour throughout Germany as his accompanist, and introduced him to the person who was to become his closest musical colleague and friend, Joseph Joachim. Brahms' passion for Hungarian melodies lasted throughout his life, and he incorporated gypsy elements into many of his works. The finales of his first two piano quartets, the piano quintet, second string quartet, first piano concerto, and both violin and 'Double' concertos are rousing magyar dances, and the slow movements of the C major Piano Trio and Clarinet Quintet embody the soulful yearning of the lonely gypsy.
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