Dance Music for Orchestra is a collection of three concise dance movements that are merged into one eight-minute overture-like work. These movements are meant to exaggerate the energy and spirit of the Op. 46 and Op.72 Slavonic Dances by Antonín Dvořák. This is achieved through intricate, polyrhythmic structures and harmonic quotation. The second dance of Dance Music for Orchestra transforms the harmonic progression from Dvořák’s Op. 72, No. 2 E minor Allegretto Grazioso into a waltz that is carried along by a persistent Passacaglia bass-ostinato. While there are identifiable traces to Dvořák’s music, the whimsical, zany opening material is what perseveres through the entirety of the piece and links the three dances together.
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