Legends, Op. 59

• Like many of Dvořák’s shorter orchestral pieces, Legendy (“Legends”) started out as a set of 10 piano pieces. These were published for piano four-hands in 1881.¹
• Dvořák dedicated Legends to Eduard Hanslick, an influential Viennese music critic who had supported his work.
• When Hanslick, Brahms, and others voiced their admiration for Legends, Dvořák’s publisher Simrock requested that Dvořák orchestrate the set. The orchestral version of Legends was published in 1882.²
• Dvořák did not offer a programmatic narrative for these Legends. Several scholars have suggested that the title indicates an epic, storytelling character rather than a depiction of any particular “legends.”³

“A charming work, and enviable the fresh, merry, rich invention.”

Johannes Brahms, letter to publisher Simrock (August 8, 1881)⁴

“The title Legends finds its justification in the distinctive narrative and epically restrained tone which pervades this entire series of pieces, now softened to an enigmatic whisper, now enlivened in a colourful portrayal. What the work depicts, no-one can probably say for certain yet, even so, we sense that the main role is given over to something miraculous, enchanting. […] The music flows up through Legends from crystal-clear, deep waters, refreshing and invigorating. What is it about Dvorak’s music that is so appealing to us and, at the same time, stays us with its soft, warm hand? Its sense of immediacy, its wholesome freshness. […] Dvorak’s motifs are in the main short, but succinct and adeptly formed. Upon each return, they appear in a new mould, in a variable light. Only a master of harmonic and contrapuntal art could have written these Legends, even though they may not seem so erudite and scholarly at first glance.”

Eduard Hanslick, on Dvořák’s Legends Op. 52⁵

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Legend No. 1 in d minor

• This orchestration is dated Nov. 13, 1881.
• Listen for: a somber, minor-key marchlike main theme, alternating with a more lyrical Major-mode theme, which is introduced in the horns.⁶

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Legend No. 2 in G Major

• Listen for: At the piece’s opening, the strings introduce an expressive, lyrical main theme. This theme returns periodically among swiftly changing moods, ranging from whimsical material to dark, forte minor passages. The lyrical theme returns peacefully at the movement’s close.⁷

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Legend No. 3 in g minor

• This orchestration is dated Nov. 18, 1881.
• Listen for: This “Legend” begins with a lively dance in 2/4 time, followed by a warm, slower theme with a gently rocking rhythm, before the dance returns.⁸

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Legend No. 4 in C Major

• Dvořák’s orchestration of this movement is dated Nov. 20, 1881.
• Listen for: Marked molto maestoso, this movement begins with an evocative horn call, with a gentle response from the strings. This pattern is repeated a total of three times. Throughout the piece, the horn call returns, sometimes with the trappings of a ceremonial or military march, with drums and trumpet fanfares, sometimes as a gentle faraway message.⁹

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Legend No. 5 in A-Flat Major

• Listen for: ABA’ form. The A section is lyrical, with a delicate harp part, followed by a playful, more active B section with swift key changes. A sweet, abbreviated A section returns at the end.¹⁰

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Legend No. 6 in c-sharp minor

• Listen for: a brooding minor theme, alternating with a contrasting major-key B section accompanied by pulsing triplets. At the end, the music fades away as the pulsing triplets slow to nothing in the violas, and it closes on a vaguely surprising C# Major chord.¹¹

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Legend No. 7 in A Major

• Dvořák dated this orchestration Nov. 27, 1881.
• Listen for: The movement is marked Allegretto grazioso, but the graceful bits alternate with rather thumpy material marked pesante (heavy). Also, Dvořák’s frequent use of triplets makes this 4/4 movement sound like it’s frequently changing meter. The humor and contrast in this piece are reminiscent of a Beethoven scherzo.¹²

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Legend No. 8 in F Major

• Listen for: a gently rocking 6/8 opening, followed by a more active, dramatic dotted section.
  • Also listen for a horn call motif appearing in the texture, sometimes subtle, sometimes insistent. These horn calls blossom into some lovely horn solos from time to time.¹³

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Legend No. 9 in D Major

• Listen for: this is a charming little dance in 3/4 with a jaunty, dotted theme.¹⁴

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Legend No. 10 in b-flat minor

• This orchestration is dated Dec. 12, 1881.
• Listen for: this one opens with a minor-key chorale-like theme in the strings, which transitions into Major-key material by turns lilting and energetic. Both these sections reappear briefly at the close of the piece. The ending is delightfully unexpected: the major theme makes a pleasant little closing flourish, but then the chorale pops back in for four bars and has the last word.¹⁵

1. Klaus Döge, “Dvořák, Antonín,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 5, 2019,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051222.
2. “Legends,” Antonin-Dvorak.cz, accessed September 5, 2019, http://www.antonin-dvorak.cz/en/legends-for-orchestra.
3. Döge, “Dvořák, Antonín,” Grove Music Online.
4. Quoted in David Beveridge, “Dvořák and Brahms: A Chronicle, An Interpretation,” in Dvořák and His World, ed. Michael Beckerman (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), 81.
5. Quoted in “Legends,” Antonin-Dvorak.cz.
6. “Legends, Op. 59 (Dvořák, Antonín),” IMSLP, accessed February 27, 2020, https://imslp.org/wiki/Legends%2C_Op.59_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%2C_Anton%C3%ADn)
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.