2014 Term 1, Week 8: Hungarian Dance #5 by Johannes Brahms

A Hungarian Dance

Johannes Brahms was born in Germany in 1833 and died in Vienna in 1897 - two years before Johan Strauss II died.

Brahms in 1853

His father was a musician and played the double bass.  Johannes learned the piano  when he was young, and he was  a talented musician and composer.  When he was growing up in Hamburg, in Germany,  there were many Hungarian musicians in his home town. Brahms liked their folk music and it influenced a lot of his own compositions.

Brahms was close friends with many other famous musicians of the time: Franz Liszt , Robert Schumann and his wife Clara, and Johann Strauss II. (Brahms said that he wished that he had written The Blue Danube which was composed by Strauss.) He eventually moved to Vienna and lived there  until he died from cancer in 1897. Wagner, another famous German musician, also met Brahms in Vienna and did not like him, saying he was a bad conductor. Wagner was afraid that Brahms might compose better operas than his, but Brahms didn't write operas, anyway. It was true that Brahms was not a very good conductor, so he got someone else to conduct the music he composed.

Brahms and Johann Strauss II

Here's some more easy-to-read information on Brahms.

This lullaby is possibly his most well known music.

Brahms wrote 21 Hungarian dances, based on songs and music he heard by the Hungarian musicians in Hamburg. We are going to  learn about Hungarian Dance Number 5 - one of the most well known of them. It is based on a violin tune, with heavy brass in the background, percussion in the middle section and the finale goes back to the original violin theme.  We are also listening for changes in tempo (how fast or slow the music is playing) and dynamics (how loud or soft the music is).

  Look for the music map and see if you can follow it while we listen to the music.

Here's an orchestra playing Hungarian Dance Number 5 played by an orchestra.  Watch how the conductor get the orchestra to go louder or quieter, faster and slower. Can you see and hear the triangle in this?

Here are some different arrangements and version of Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 5. 
Here's something you can try at home  using every day glasses as a musical instrument - but ask permission first. 

this man has made up his own instrument - called a bellophone - and plays his version of Brahms Hungarian Dance Number 5 on it.

This is a version played on 3 guitars - backstage at a concert in NZ.  The lead guitarist is Tommy Emmanuel - a well known  Australian guitarist.

 This is what it looks like when it's played on the piano.  This is a duet. (Two players - four hands on the same piano.) And here's two boys actually playing it together on the piano.

Here's a funny version with a conductor  and Andre Rieu's orchestra. Notice how for this performance the audience are expected to participate - not just sit quietly. 

Here's a violinist having a bit of fun with the person who turns the pages of her music during her performance. 

Here's another violinist called David Garrett who plays a very fast version with an orchestra with some electric instruments accompanying him. What instruments can you identify?  

This is what it would look like if you tried to play it on the piano. Can you see where the music ascends and descends?

Here is one of the first movie stars - Charlie Chaplin - in a scene in a barber's  shop. Watch how he makes all his movements fit the music. 

Here's a Looney Tunes cartoon of the Three Little Pigs, using Brahms Hungarian Dances #5, #7, #6  and #17 in that order.  What changes do you think were made to make the music fit the story and soundtrack?

And should you eventually want to dance yourself to Hungarian Dance Number 5 - just follow these guys. Here's a class of students having a go at this dance.

Here's Brahms Hungarian Dance #6    Listen for the changes in tempo (speed) and for louder and quieter music.  Watch out for a few loud surprises.

2014, Week 6: Tritsch Tratsch Polka by Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II  (or Johann Strauss Junior) was born in Vienna in1825, and he died in Vienna in 1899. 

Johann Strauss II

He was an Austrian composer and the son of Johann Strauss Senior (or Johann Strauss I), who was also a very famous composer. 

Strauss Senior wanted his son to become a banker, but young Johann took violin lessons in secret. 

When he was 18, he got his own orchestra together and performed some of his own music as well as some of his father’s.  Young Johann became very famous for his waltzes – he became known as the king of waltzes and the most famous musician in Austria -  and soon became more famous than his father. 

The waltz was a daring new dance and,  at the time, many people were scandalised  that people held each other so close for the entire dance. 

After his father died, Johann joined both his own and his father’s orchestras together. He became very busy during the annual Venice carnival when there were lots of balls in Vienna, the capital of Austria.  

 He travelled around Europe and Russia and even conducted some of Tchaikovsky’s  music. 

Johann Strauss II wrote two operas: Die Fledermaus (The Bat) and Zigeunerbaron (Gypsy Baron).

His two brothers, Josef and Eduard, were also very musical and they joined Johann to compose and play some of this most popular  waltz music of all time.  

Europe at the time of the death of Strauss.

Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka  was written in 1858 after Strauss returned from a successful tour of Russia.  O There are several thoughts on what the title means, but it is most likely to mean the same as “chit-chat”  and refers to the name for gossip - which was abundant in those days in Vienna,  as everyone wanted to know everyone else’s business. 

 Here is the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing the Tritsch Tratsch Polka at an outdoor concert - in Vienna.

Here's the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra playing the Tritsch-Tratsch polka in 1984.  You can see all the different instruments that are played in this, and you can see one of the many different styles of conducting 

Here's an excellent quality video of an orchestra performing the Tritsch - Tratsch polka. How many instruments can you name? Listen for the triangle. Copy the conductor's movements and you be the conductor for this performance. 

Watch the cymbals player in this video clip.

Here's Andre Rieu's orchestra having a lot of fun playing this polka on a tram in Vienna.

 Here is the Hungarian National Ballet rehearsing to this music. Can you see the story that is being told by the dancers? 

This is an excellent quality video of the Fernsehballet (a ballet company from Germany) performing a very fast version of the Tritsch - Tratsch polka, with a few variations. 

In this video, a group of male dancers tell the story of a soccer game to the music of the Tritsch Tratsch polka.  The quality of the video isn't great, but you will still get the idea.

This is a slower version of the Tritsch-Tratsch polka because there is a group of people dancing a polka to it. Even so, they have to move pretty quickly. How many different kinds of dance moves and steps can you see?

Here's how it looks when you play it on the piano. Can you see where the notes are ascending and descending? 

Here' the Vienna Boys Choir singing the Tritsch Tratsch Polka (it's in German - I think.)

Here's a drummer  doing his version of the Tritsch-Tratsch polka  - with some pretty clever lighting effects, and captions which say Merry Christmas  in many languages - including a few fun ones at the end.

This is fun. It's a musicogram of the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, with drawings to represent the music. See if you can follow it.

This is one very clever young girl. See if you can do what she's doing.


Here's a fun cartoon version of part of this piece of music.

Here's another cartoon version - with Minnie Mouse.


Click on this link to see what the music looks like as it is being played by a piano.