Arpad Balazs

Early Hungarian Dances From Gömör

The title of the suite Early Hungarian Dances from Gömör suggests the arrangement and harmonization of dance tunes, but this three-movement cycle is far more than that: in fact, the old court dances that provide the thematic material have been freely thought through and brought to completion. The composer has breathed new life into the 18th-century melodies, as Zoltan Kodaly did with the Galanta and Marosszek dances, Antonin Dvorak with Slav dances, and Johannes Brahms with those of Hungary. The chief virtues of the work are its colourful, varied instrumentation, the tasteful combination of its archaic style with the musical language of our day, and not least the fact that its every bar is enjoyable to play and easy to listen to.