Description
In October 1880, the publisher Simrock was thrilled when Dvořák presented him with the prospect of a new piano four-hands cycle, the "Legends," following the great success of the Slavonic Dances op. 46. The new work was published barely a year later. Shortly before this, Dvořák and Simrock had traveled to Karlsbad with the proofs, where the Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick was taking the waters. They played through the work together and proofread it, and Hanslick was delighted, even becoming the dedicatee of these ten charming pieces. In a later review, Hanslick wrote that the "Legends" evoked a "sense of pleasure" that "feels doubly good in our pessimistic times."
