Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms: a listening guide for kids

Hungarian Dance No. 5 is a short, fiery piece by Johannes Brahms. It lasts about two and a half minutes. The music keeps changing speed: it charges ahead, pulls back, stops, and charges again. The surprises make it a good piece for children.

Quick facts

• Composer: Johannes Brahms, who lived from 1833 to 1897
• Printed: 1869
• Length: about 2 and a half minutes
• First written for: two players at one piano
• Heard today: most often with a full orchestra
• Part of: a set of 21 Hungarian Dances

Where it came from

As a young man, Brahms toured as the pianist for a Hungarian violinist named Ede Reményi. Reményi played the dance music of Hungarian café bands, and Brahms never forgot it.

Years later, Brahms wrote down 21 dances in that style for piano duet. They were among his best-selling works.

Brahms thought the tunes were old folk songs with no known author. He was wrong about this one. The main tune of No. 5 came from a dance by a composer named Béla Kéler.

Two players, one piano

The dances were written for piano four hands. Two people sit side by side at one piano. One plays the high half, and the other plays the low half.

Brahms arranged three of the dances for orchestra himself. No. 5 was not one of them. Other musicians made the orchestra version that most people know.

What to listen for

Part	What happens
The main tune	Low and dark, with a strong stamp. It surges forward.
The slow-down	The music stretches out, as if it has run out of breath.
The rush	It snaps back to full speed.
The middle	The key turns bright. Quick, light notes run, then stop short, and run again.
The return	The dark tune comes back and drives to a sudden end.

Fast and slow

Much music keeps a steady beat. This piece does not. The players speed up and slow down together, as the dance bands did. The style comes from a Hungarian dance called the czardas, which has a slow part and a fast part.

Read dances in classical music and tempo words in music.

Where you may have heard it

It turns up in cartoons and old films. In one famous film scene from 1940, a barber shaves a customer in time with the music, fast and slow.

Things to do together

Stop and go. March while the music is fast. Creep when it slows down. Freeze when it stops.

Be the barber. Pretend to brush, comb, or shave in time with the music. Follow every change of speed.

Conduct it. Wave your arms fast for the fast parts and wide and slow for the slow parts.

Dark and bright. Crouch for the dark main tune. Jump up when the bright middle begins.

Four hands. Sit at a piano or a table with your child. One of you taps the low part of the beat, and the other taps the high part.

Guess the ending. Stop the music ten seconds before the end. Ask how your child thinks it will finish.

Questions to ask

• Where did the music slow down?
• Did it feel angry, proud, or playful?
• Which part would you dance to?
• Why would a dance change speed?

Words to know

• Czardas: a Hungarian dance with a slow part and a fast part
• Piano four hands: two players at one piano
• Arrange: to rewrite a piece for different instruments
• Minor and major: dark-sounding and bright-sounding keys

Print and play

Draw the stops and starts on a listening journal page. Try to match the speed with the metronome for kids, and see how often it changes. Read Brahms for kids.