Dohnányi: Orchestral Works

Featuring

Matthias Bamert
Howard Shelley
James Ehnes
Clifford Lantaff
BBC Philharmonic
Ernö Dohnányi

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Unlike Bartók, who embraced modernism and folk music, Dohnányi extended the conservative, romantic style of Brahms into the 20th century, only occasionally adopting a 'national style'.

Composition History

Dohnányi's "Ruralia hungarica" was inspired by the premiere of Bartók's "Dance Suite" and incorporates authentic Hungarian folk melodies from a volume published by Bartók and Kodály.

Composer Biography

Ernst von Dohnányi, born in Bratislava, shared a school with Béla Bartók, who was four years his junior, and they became major figures in Hungarian music.

Compositional Technique

Dohnányi's "Variations on a Nursery Theme" parodies other composers by subjecting the tune 'Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman' (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) to grotesque and comical transformations.

Historical Context

Dohnányi defied Nazi edicts on Jewish musicians, keeping them in his Budapest Philharmonic Society until Germany occupied Hungary in 1944.

Composer Biography

After World War II, Dohnányi emigrated to the United States, becoming a piano professor and composer-in-residence at Florida State University in Tallahassee.