Richard F. Dennis, known to many as Dick Dennis, was a violinist, string teacher, and conductor who worked internationally as concertmaster for touring artists including Henry Mancini. He later led the orchestra program at North Central High School in Indianapolis, IN for 32 years. When he died in late 2005, his school district commissioned a new orchestral work in his memory. It was an honor to be chosen as composer of this work and as a guest conductor for the Dick Dennis Legacy Concert the following year. The orchestra of well over 100 players comprised current students at North Central High School supplemented by professionals including Mr. Dennis’s colleagues, friends, and former students from around the country.
For the memorial composition I decided on a two-part suite in Hungarian nationalistic style. The two movements were a depiction of the two sides of the typical Hungarian character, which Dick Dennis exemplified; one side quiet, introspective, and at times gloomy, the other side playful and exuberant. The second movement was a Hungarian Dance in the spirit of the twenty-four such dances for piano (and later orchestrated) by Brahms, which Dick Dennis loved. Many of Brahms’s dances are based on Hungarian folk melodies; mine is original, but anyone who knows Brahms’s music, or heard Dick Dennis whistling in his office, will notice my indebtedness to these two sources.
I was sure Dick Dennis would not want an “easy” piece written in his memory; this piece observes none of the limits on accidentals, rhythms, tempi, etc., one would usually find in music for a young orchestra. Efforts to get the suite published or otherwise made available have been hampered by this and my limited reputation in the educational music market — built to date, in fact, on this single composition. A score of the Hungarian Dance can be viewed here.
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