Traces of developing variation at the collection level in Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian dances (WoO 1): A comparative analysis of folk-derived and original dances

Abstract

Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian Dances (Ungarische Tänze, WoO 1) is a collection of twenty-one dances published in four volumes by Breitkopf & Härtel in (1869) and 1880 for piano four hands. Existing scholarship has approached the collection primarily through folklore research, style hongrois studies, and the practice of four-hand piano arrangement. Comprehensive studies on Brahms’s variational thinking, by contrast, have focused on the composer’s chamber music and symphonic works; the Hungarian Dances have not been systematically examined within this framework. This article addresses precisely the gap where these two strands of literature do not intersect, and investigates whether the logic of developing variation, defined by Schoenberg and systematized by Frisch in relation to Brahms, operates at the collection level in the Hungarian Dances. The study draws on seven dances: six of folkloric origin (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8) and one original composition (No. 16), selected on the basis of three criteria: inclusion of at least one original dance, thematic and structural diversity within the folk-derived group, and overlap with the three dances Brahms himself orchestrated (Nos. 1, 3, and 10). Four findings directly confirmed by the score are presented: textural displacement between Nos. 1 and 2, rhythmic fragmentation between Nos. 1 and 8, multi-level structural parallelism between Nos. 4 and 16, and recurring motivic movement across the collection. These findings provide descriptive evidence that Brahms reworked a common verbunkos-characterized rhythmic core across the collection, adapting it within varied textural, dynamic, and characterological contexts.

Keywords

• Johannes Brahms
• Hungarian Dances
• WoO 1
• developing variation
• style hongrois

Johannes Brahms’ın Macar Dansları’nda (WoO 1) koleksiyon ölçeğinde gelişen varyasyon izleri: Folklorik ve orijinal danslarda karşılaştırmalı bir analiz

Abstract

Johannes Brahms’ın Macar Dansları (Ungarische Tänze, WoO 1), Breitkopf & Härtel tarafından 1869 ve 1880 yıllarında dört el piyano için dört defter halinde yayımlanan ve 21 dansı kapsayan bir koleksiyondur. Mevcut literatür, koleksiyonu ağırlıklı olarak folklorik kaynak araştırmaları, style hongrois çalışmaları ve dört el piyano düzenleme pratiği çerçevesinde ele almıştır. Brahms’ın varyasyonel düşüncesi üzerine yapılan kapsamlı çalışmalar ise bestecinin oda müziği ve senfonik eserlerine odaklanmış; Macar Dansları bu çerçevede sistematik biçimde incelenmemiştir. Bu makale, söz konusu iki literatür hattının kesişmediği boşluğa yönelmekte ve Schoenberg’in tanımladığı, Frisch’in Brahms üzerinde sistematikleştirdiği gelişen varyasyon (developing variation) mantığının Macar Dansları’nda koleksiyon ölçeğinde işleyip işlemediğini araştırmaktadır. Çalışma, folklorik kaynaklı altı dans (No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 ve 8) ve bir orijinal beste (No. 16) olmak üzere koleksiyondan seçilen yedi dansı analitik referans olarak almaktadır. Dans seçimi üç ölçüte dayanmaktadır: örneklemin en az bir orijinal dans içermesi, folklorik grup içinde tematik ve yapısal çeşitliliğin sağlanması ve seçimin Brahms’ın bizzat orkestralaştırdığı üç dansla (No. 1, 3 ve 10) örtüşmesi. Çalışma, partisyondan doğrudan teyit edilen dört bulgu sunmaktadır: No. 1 ile No. 2 arasındaki dokusal yer değiştirme, No. 1 ile No. 8 arasındaki ritmik parçalanma, No. 4 ile No. 16 arasındaki çok düzeyli yapısal paralellik ve koleksiyonun farklı noktalarında tekrar eden motif hareketi. Bu bulgular, Brahms’ın verbunkos karakterli ortak bir ritmik çekirdeği koleksiyon ölçeğinde farklı dokusal, dinamik ve karakterolojik bağlamlarda yeniden işlediğine dair betimsel kanıt sunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Johannes Brahms
• Macar Dansları
• WoO 1
• gelişen varyasyon
• style hongrois

Ethical Statement

Bu araştırmada insan, hayvan ve hassas veriler kullanılmadığı için etik kurul onayı gerekmemektedir.

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