Hungarian Dance No. 5

The best-known of Brahms's 21 Hungarian Dances, built from Roma (Romani) folk melodies he heard and transcribed rather than composed outright — he was always candid that these were arrangements, not original themes. Its stop-start tempo changes (a racing Allegro braking into a swaying Vivace, then a hushed Dolce) are the point: it's meant to sound a little unruly.

Learn each tempo section on its own first, at its own speed, before trying to string the transitions together — the piece's character comes from the contrast between sections, which only lands if each one is secure enough that the tempo change feels deliberate, not improvised out of necessity.

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