Gyula Harangozó

Hungarian dancer

Also known as: Harangozó Gyula

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Hungarian form:: Harangozó Gyula

Born:: April 19, 1908, Budapest, Hung.

Died:: Oct. 30, 1974, Budapest (aged 66)

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Gyula Harangozó (born April 19, 1908, Budapest, Hung.—died Oct. 30, 1974, Budapest) was one of the founders of the Hungarian National Ballet and an exceptional dancer of the ballet d’action, or dramatic ballet.

Harangozó began his career at the Hungarian National Ballet, the ballet company of the Hungarian State Opera. In 1928 a visiting choreographer, Albert Gubier, cast him in the main role of Manuel de Falla’s ballet El sombrero de tres picos (“The Three-Cornered Hat”). The immense success of this performance led to Harangozó’s career as a solo dancer. In 1936 he choreographed his first dances, in Csárdajelenet (“Scene in a Wayside Inn”), to the music of Jenö Hubay. This was followed by a number of performances in one-act dramatic ballets that included Aleksandr Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Alfredo Casella’s The Jar, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Some of his most important roles were Mirígy in Csongor és Tünde (“Csongor and Tünde”), Coppelius in Coppélia, and Florestan in Karnevál (“Carnival”). However, his most renowned performance was in the role of the old cavalier in love in Béla Bartók’s A csodálatos mandarin (“The Miraculous Mandarin”), which Harangozó choreographed himself.

It was his many characteristically Hungarian dance works—including Pozsonyi majális (“May Dance in Pozsony”), A furfangos diákok (“The Crafty Students”), and A keszkenő (“The Handkerchief”)—and his three-act ballet Ludas Matyi (1960), written to music by Ferenc Szabó, that earned him an international reputation. From 1950 to 1960 he was artistic director of the Hungarian National Ballet. In 1956 he was awarded the Kossuth Prize.

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Hungarian Dances

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Hungarian Dances

work by Brahms

Written by Betsy Schwarm

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Brief excerpt from Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor by Johannes Brahms; from a 1954 recording by the Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt.

Hungarian Dances, set of 21 dances composed by Johannes Brahms. Originally intended for two pianists, the dances were published in that form in two sets in 1869 and in 1880. Some were orchestrated by Brahms himself, and others were orchestrated by his colleagues, including Antonín Dvořák.

The Hungarian Dances capitalized upon two musical trends of the 19th century. One such trend was for dance-style pieces written for piano four-hands (a single piano played by two pianists). The other was for compositions inspired by Europe’s diverse blend of minority cultures, particularly the Roma (Gypsy) culture, which was, if not specifically Hungarian, at least strongly identified with that nation.

Both Hungarian-style music and piano four-hands music made early entrances into Brahms’s life. He discovered the excitement of Central European folk music as a youth and began writing piano duets while still in his 20s. One important influence was the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi, whom Brahms had heard in concert at age 17. Three years later Brahms served as Reményi’s accompanist at the piano. Brahms’s familiarity with piano four-hands music and his exposure to authentic Hungarian dances led him to try his hand at composing Hungarian-style pieces, for which he knew there would be a ready-made audience.

Most of the dances are rapid, energetic pieces. Imitating the mercurial spirit of Hungarian folk music, some of the dances change tempo midway, as in the fourth dance, where a languid, melancholy introduction gives way to exuberance. The fifth dance begins with a quick tempo, then becomes even more frenzied.

Betsy Schwarm