Along with his nine symphonies, Antonín Dvořák's Slavonic Dances rate as some of his most popular works.
Prompted by his publisher Fritz Simrock to write something dance-like, Dvořák composed the first eight Slavonic Dances as piano four hand works in 1878. Inspired by Brahms' Hungarian Dances (it had been Brahms who had referred Dvořák to his own publisher, Simrock), Dvořák's dances used the rhythms and idioms of slavic folk music, though not the melodies, which were entirely his own. The success of the piano pieces led Simrock to suggest orchestrating them, and these helped establish Dvořák internationally. Since you couldn't have too much of a good thing, Simrock, with an eye on the balance sheet, asked for another set of dances in 1886.
This recording of all 16 dances comes from a 1974 set with Václav Neumann conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and more information can be found the scans of the album notes below.
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