Antonín Dvořák

3 Slavonic Dances

The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonin Dvorak 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' own Hungarian Dances and were orchestrated at the request of Dvorak's published 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. Dvorak only made use of the characteristic rhythms of Slavic folk music: the melodies are entirely his own. The three dances included in this arrangement are from Opus 46, No. 7 (Skocna, in C minor), No. 2 (Dumka, in E minor), No. 8 (Furiant, in G minor).