Dvořák: Slavonic Dances

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(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slavonic_Dances024.jpg)

Dvořák composed two sets of Slavonic Dances: Op. 46 in 1878, and Op. 72 in 1886. Both of them were initially written for piano four hands, and orchestrated soon after their creation. Thus they are performed in several versions: two pianos only, two pianos and orchestra, or orchestra only. Dvořák was inspired by Brahms' Hungarian Dances, but he took a different way: Brahms had used actual folk melodies, while Dvořák made use of the folk rhythms in creating his own melodies.

Let's consider the Slavonic Dances in a larger context: it was the 19th century, and Czech intelligentsia was trying to better understand its own spiritual identity. These intellectuals, formatted in the generous cultural environment of Central Europe (with its essential German fingerprint), were living intensely the spirit of Romanticism and national revolutions. So they were exploring the Slavonic ethos, to find there the way toward their own cultural universe.

Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Op. 46
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
John Farrer, conductor
Ingryd Thorson and Julian Thurber, piano
No. 1 in C major (Furiant) 00:00
No. 2 in E minor (Dumka) 08:08
No. 3 in A-flat major (Polka) 19:26
No. 4 in F major (Sousedská) 29:44
No. 5 in A major (Skočná) 44:20
No. 6 in D major (Sousedská) 50:48
No. 7 in C minor (Skočná) 01:01:08
No. 8 in G minor (Furiant) 01:07:58
(video by Aljosha Karamazov)

Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Op. 72
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
Wiener Philharmoniker
Musikverein, Vienna, August 29,2004
No. 1 (9) in B major (Odzemek)
No. 2 (10) in E minor (Starodávný)
No. 3 (11) in F major (Skočná)
No. 4 (12) in D-flat major (Dumka)
No. 5 (13) in B-flat minor (Špacírka)
No. 6 (14) in B-flat major (Starodávný)
No. 7 (15) in C major (Kolo)
No. 8 (16) in A-flat major (Sousedská)
(video by magischmeisjeorkest)

(Dvořák)