Weapon Dance

Ferenc Erkel (1810-1893) was a composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, a leading figure in 19th century Hungarian music, creator of Hungarian national opera. In his operas based on Hungarian history (Bátori Mária: 1840, Hunyadi László: 1844, Bánk bán: 1861, Dózsa György: 1867, etc.), blending elements of the style of Bellini, Meyerbeer and Verdi with verbunkos he created a distinctively Hungarian opera genre. The 'Weapon Dance' is a popular ballet interlude in his opera Dózsa György, and in József Pécsi's transcription youth wind orchestras can now add it to their repertoire.