Hungarian Dances, WoO 1
Johannes Brahms
Work background
Researched classical background
Brahms's Hungarian Dances began as piano-duet arrangements shaped by the performance traditions he encountered through violinist Ede Remenyi. They alternate flexible, slower gestures with more animated dance rhythms. The twenty-one pieces are frequently heard in orchestral arrangements, only some of which are by Brahms himself. Their sources and style should not be equated with a modern ethnographic collection of rural Hungarian folk songs.
Inspiration and creative background
Brahms drew on Hungarian popular and Roma performance traditions encountered through Ede Remenyi and other musical contacts.
Three Hungarian Dances (No. 1 in G minor; No. 6 in D major; No. 5 in G minor) - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
Hungarian Dance No. 11 - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
A listening guide
Compare the original piano-duet texture with an orchestral arrangement of the same dance.
Listening suggestions are editorial guides to the music.
Forces: Piano four hands originally; selected dances also exist in orchestral arrangements
Publication: 1869 and 1880 (publication groups)
The twenty-one dances appeared in separate groups; 1869 does not date the complete collection.
This entry describes the musical work or cycle. Composition, premiere and publication dates describe different events. Performers and recordings can be explored through the external listening search.
Date, title and version notes
Orchestrations have multiple authors; the listed work is the complete piano-duet collection.
Three Hungarian Dances (No. 1 in G minor; No. 6 in D major; No. 5 in G minor) - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
Hungarian Dance No. 11 - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
Sources for this work
Three Hungarian Dances (No. 1 in G minor; No. 6 in D major; No. 5 in G minor) - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
Hungarian Dance No. 11 - LA Phil
Work identity, chronology where stated, and the specific musical or historical context summarized in this entry. | Reviewed 2026-10-19
Browse by year
1960-2025. Each year contains 150 selections.