Search - Sergey Taneyev :: Sergej Taneyev: Complete String Trios

Tchaikovsky's pupil

Thomas Goldthwaite | Pago Pago American Samoa | 07/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sergei Taneyev (or often Taniev), a brilliant pupil of Tchaikovsky -he premiered the B-flat Minor Concerto -was a prolific, late-Romantic composer (1856-1915)who created a full rounded library of chamber music in all forms, among them these three string trios representing early,middle and final works.Respected by the greats in his day, he would remain obscure today but for a number of CDs amazingly covering his string works. The D Major Trio, published 30 years ago by International, is a beautifully crafted work, known to some players, and a very lyrical companion piece to the more popular Dohnanyi Trio in the great post-Romantic tradition that resisted the Central European experimentalism. (Taneyev, who praised the 10-year-old prodigy Prokofiev, would ignore Schoenberg and Stravinsky, plodding along the lines of Sibelius and the English school.) The mood of these three trios is consistently lyrical, intimate and a bit academic,as his famous contemporaries acknowledged. But the E-Flat Trio, Op.31,undertakes an experimentation in scoring for a tenor-viola -here adapted (1999) by an excellent ensemble, the Belcanto Strings, for cello -and produces an extremely complex, emotional work of great creative energy. The three inspired players of Belcanto Strings are contributing wonderfully to the neglected repertoire by many composers. This CD is a pleasing example of how brilliant and accessible the composers in Europe's great conservatories were at the turn of the 20th century, a period of imminent musical and political revolution. For listeners who want an introduction to Taneyev's real stature, listen to the thoroughly cosmopolitan D Major Piano Trio, which along with the Viennese trios of Zemlimsky and Korngold,bring to a close, as with these first rate string trios, the great Romantic movement in chamber music."

Music by Russia's master contrapuntist

**** | **** | 02/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is much to wax lyrical about this highly attractive music;its echoes of Tchaikovsy,its synthesis of the classical and romantic styles and its highly polished and organised 'surface'.
Yes it is some of the very first 'fusion' music.Sure Taneyev was 50-60 years too late and was writing in a thoroughly old-fashioned idiom at this time but so were many other composers of note. Also it is not music of any great argument or emotional depth. Nevertheless Taneyev's String trios like many of his other chamber works (I know the piano Quintet and Quartet) exhibit many great beauties. The music is full of life and hardly ever dryly academic except in the fugal sections when the formula tends to take over from the fantasy.
Unlike the other Russians Taneyev has little in the way of an imagination. He relys on his gigantic knowledge and skill to construct a completely organised structure. There are echoes of Tchaikovsky (especially the Imperial ballet style) in the main subject of the E flat Trio that opens the CD, Borodin and Mendelssohn also. Taneyev's personal style is sweetly lyrical with no particular individuality about it. His scores are the best organised in the Russian repertoire and are consummate in their craftmanship. Taneyev and Medtner represent the sole main touchbearers of the Austro-Germanic tradition in a Russia generally reacting against or to this tradition.
This CD needs to be listened to in order to discover another interesting facet of this fascinating composer. The Belcanto Strings do a highly professional and sympathetic job in its recreation. A highly recommended disc for those interested in the by-ways of music."