Dances of Galanta

Despite its title Kodály's Dances of Galanta is not so much a dance-suite as a symphonic poem.The dances in this piece are derived from the 18th-century Verbunkos, a characteristic Hungarian dance of military origin, also used in the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms. The solo clarinet is very prominent and the writing for violins is quite virtuoso in the bravura manner of Gypsy fiddling.