A Folk Tale is a 1854 ballet created by August Bournonville, Niels Gade, and Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann. It isn't any surprising that together they created something as magnificient as it is – of them two (Gade and Bournonville) were sharing the passion at folklore. As a composer, Gade had a primary interest in folk music and wasn't very much concerned about its mythological side, and Bournonville, being an amateur of Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm brothers, pretty much outdone himself writing the plot – A Folk Tale is almost as captivating as works of storytellers he himself was inspired by.
Once I noticed that Camille Saint-Saëns considered Carnival of Animals to be a joke – talking about a given ballet, Niels Gade was thinking the same about a piece he composed for the final scene. Nevertheless, now this composition (called Bridal Waltz) accompanies almost every Danish wedding and is a favorite among both newlyweds and amateurs of classical music. Download a piece here: Waltz from Ballet 'Et Folkesagn'.
Haydn's Miracle Symphony No.102
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