Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor, Allegro
Janos Sandor - Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra
Dances from the ballet Coppelia
Performed by The Bolshoi Ballet
Brahms composed a set of 21 lively dance tunes, based mostly on Hungarian themes, which were completed in 1869. They are among Brahms's most popular works, and were certainly the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano four-hands and later arranged the first 10 dances for solo piano.
While numbers 11, 14 and 16 are entirely original compositions, Brahms was inspired by the traditional Hungarian folk melodies in composing the other dances. The most famous, No. 5 in F♯ minor (G minor in the orchestral version), which Brahms mistakenly thought was a traditional folksong, was based on the csárdás by Béla Kéler titled "Bártfai emlék" (see • Béla Kéler - Bártfai E... at 1:29).