Legends, Op. 59/B. 122; Nos. 6-10 [composer's orchestration]: Full Orchestra, Conductor Score & Parts

These five movements showcase Dvorák at his most imaginative as an orchestrator. Each piece features entirely different instrumental combinations, which means your orchestra encounters genuine variety within a single work rather than hearing the same timbral palette repeated. The writing is grateful without being showy, and the thematic material is strong enough that audiences leave remembering melodies rather than just impressions.

These legends unfold with the narrative confidence of a master storyteller. Dvorák moves freely between moods: some movements sing with Romantic lyricism, others pulse with folk-inspired rhythmic vitality, and still others open unexpected harmonic vistas. The orchestrations shimmer and change with each new combination of voices, creating the impression of watching different facets of a single, luminous idea.

Orchestras with competent principal players and a conductor ready to spend time on orchestrational detail. This is not sight-reading material; it rewards careful preparation and pays dividends through the freshness and character of the individual movements.

• Honor the unique instrumentation of each movement by adjusting your sectional balance in rehearsal. Movement 6 requires a fundamentally different instrumental focus than movements 8 or 10, so treat each as its own acoustic world rather than applying uniform tutti concepts across the set.
• The contrapuntal writing that impressed Hanslick demands clarity in your part assignments. Have musicians mark their cues carefully and rehearse passages where melodic lines pass between instrumental families so that the handoffs land cleanly.
• These orchestrations originated from piano duets, which means the harmonic language and textural schemes sometimes reflect keyboard thinking. Be alert to places where orchestral doubling can clarify the original voice-leading without muddying the texture.
• Shape phrases according to Dvorák's harmonic rhythm rather than purely by bar lines. Many of these movements use slow harmonic motion that invites broader, more architecturally generous phrasing than a strict metronomic approach would suggest.

Program this set as a standalone suite on a concert where you want to explore Dvorák's orchestrational mastery without committing to a full symphony. Alternatively, pair Nos. 6-10 with Nos. 1-5 on a concert dedicated entirely to the Legends, creating an evening-length exploration of his inventiveness. These movements also work well as an orchestral intermezzo between larger works, offering audiences a chance to hear Dvorák's chamber-like refinement in full orchestral dress.

• Recognizing and responding to changing instrumental combinations within a single work
• Maintaining ensemble balance when primary melodic voices shift between instrumental families
• Reading and executing contrapuntal textures in orchestral context
• Responding to phrase shapes derived from harmonic rhythm rather than metric regularity
• Understanding how keyboard idioms translate into orchestral color and voice-leading