The title of the suite Early Hungarian Dances from Gömör suggests the arrangement and harmonization of dance tunes, but this three-movement cycle is far more than that: in fact, the old court dances that provide the thematic material have been freely thought through and brought to completion.

The composer has breathed new life into the 18th-century melodies, as Zoltán Kodály did with the Galanta and Marosszék dances, Antonin Dvo ák with Slav dances, and Johannes Brahms with those of Hungary....