Slavonic Dances
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The Slavonic Dances 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.
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[edit] Composition
Prior to the publication of the Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Dvořák was a relatively unknown composer. Because of this fact, he had applied for the Austrian State Music Prize scholarship in order to fund his compositional work. After he won the prize four years in a row, Johannes Brahms, as one of the members of the committee responsible for awarding the scholarship, 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.
[edit] Orchestration
The orchestration for the Slavonic Dances, with minor variations for each number, is as follows:
- Strings
- 1st, 2nd Violins
- Violas
- Violoncellos
- Double Basses
[edit] The music
The types of dances upon which Dvořák based his music include the furiant, the dumka, the polka, the sousedská, the skočná, the mazurka, the odzemek, the spacirka, the kolo and the polonaise. A full performance of each set typically takes approximately 40 minutes.
[edit] Opus 46
- No. 1 in C major (Furiant)
- No. 2 in E minor (Dumka)
- No. 3 in A-flat major (Polka)
- No. 4 in F major (Sousedská)
- No. 5 in A major (Skočná)
- No. 6 in D major (Sousedská)
- No. 7 in C minor (Skočná)
- No. 8 in G minor (Furiant)
[edit] Opus 72
The dances of the second set are sometimes numbered separately from the first and sometimes as numbers 9-16. Most editions give both numbers.
- No. 1 in B major (Odzemek)
- No. 2 in E minor (Mazurka)
- No. 3 in F major (Skočná)
- No. 4 in D-flat major (Dumka)
- No. 5 in B-flat minor (Spacirka)
- No. 6 in B-flat major (Dumka)
- No. 7 in C major (Kolo)
- No. 8 in A-flat major (Polonaise)
[edit] In popular culture
- Slavonic Dance No. 8, Op. 46 appeared in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode entitled "A Fistful of Datas", when a computer malfunction causes the piece to be played instead of a requested Mozart trio.
- Four of the Slavonic Dances (Op. 46 Nos. 3 and 7, and Op. 72 Nos. 10 and 12) were incorporated into the soundtrack of the popular computer game Civilization IV.
