“What one has so long and so boisterously merely played, is awkward to write down.” With this charming self-irony, Johannes Brahms described the lively origins of his Hungarian Dances, whose rousing rhythms and fiery melodies continue to captivate to this day. Brahms’s friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim, made a congenial arrangement for violin and piano which combines consummate virtuosity with the magic of chamber music.

The refined alternation between spirited polka rhythms and elegiac “puszta” romanticism lends the Hungarian Dance no. 6 its special charm. This extremely popular dance is frequently studied on its own and is now available as a practical, affordable single edition for violin and piano. It is also ideally suited as an effective encore!

Joseph Joachim (Arrangement)