Three Fantastic Dances

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Three Fantastic Dances, Op. 5 (originally published as Op. 1)[1] are a set of three piano pieces composed by Dmitri Shostakovich while he was a student at the Petrograd Conservatory. They are dedicated to Josif Shvarts, a friend and fellow pupil in the piano class of Leonid Nikolayev. The first dance was completed on December 4, 1920,[2] with the remaining two completed in 1922.[3] They were published by Muzgiz in February 1926 and were Shostakovich's first published works.[2] Shostakovich’s orchestration of the first dance, an assignment for the composition class of Maximilian Steinberg, remains unpublished.[4]

On March 20, 1923, the Three Fantastic Dances were premiered by Shostakovich in the Small Hall of the Petrograd Conservatory.[1] According to  [ru], the Three Fantastic Dances "amazed [Shostakovich's fellow students] with their freshness, originality, and mature mastery."[5] Later in 1923, Shostakovich collaborated on a choreographic treatment of the music with Mariya Ponna, a champion swimmer turned dancer, and Kasyan Goleizovsky. This was performed at the Main Hall of the Bureau of Weights and Measures. Shostakovich's mother, who attended the performance, was reportedly scandalized.[5]

Shostakovich subsequently recorded the Three Fantastic Dances in 1947 and 1958.[3]

Music[]

The Three Fantastic Dances consist of:

  1. MarchAllegretto, C major
  2. WaltzAndantino, C major
  3. PolkaAllegretto, C major

A typical performance lasts approximately five minutes.[1] Metronome markings are lacking in the original manuscript, but Shostakovich's tempi in his own recordings for each dance were quarter note = 168, quarter note = 130, and half note = 112 respectively.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c List of works by Shostakovich, sikorski.de
  2. ^ a b Moshevich, Sofia (2015). Shostakovich's Music for Piano Solo Interpretation and Performance. Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-253-01422-1.
  3. ^ a b c Moshevich, Sofia (2004). "Chapter 1: Roots, 1906–1923". Dmitri Shostakovich, Pianist. Montreal: Mc Gill-Queen's University Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN 0773525815.
  4. ^ (2010). Fairclough, Pauline (ed.). Shostakovich Studies 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0521111188.
  5. ^ a b Хентова, Софья (1985). Шостакович. Жизнь и творчество, Т. 1 (in Russian). Moscow: Советский композитор. pp. 99, 104.
Retrieved from ""