Alexander Taneyev 1850-1918

[giles.enders]

Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev 17.1.1850 - 7.2.1918  born St Petersburg, Russia, died St.Petersburg, Russia

The son of a court official and minor amateur composer Sergey Alaksandrovitch Taneyev ¹  1821-1889. Alexander married Nadezhda Tolstoy and they had three children. ²
Alexander studied firstly under Reichel in Dresden and later in St Petersburg with Rimsky-Korsakov and A.A.Petrov where he came under the influence of the Balakirev circle.
He was a high ranking civil servant and for a time was chamberlain to the dowager empress. He was second cousin to the better known Sergei Taneyev.

Orchestral

Symphony No.1 in A major  1890
Symphony No.2 in B flat minor  Op.21  1903
Symphony No.3 in E  Op.36  1908   pub. by P Jurgenson
Suite No.1 in A  Op.9 1899
Suite No.2 in F major Op.14  1900   pub. by Zimmermann, Leipzig
'Alyosha Popovich' ballade  Op.11  1897
Festive March  Op.12  1898
Two Mazurkas in A and in F  Op.15  (orchestrated from piano solos)
Reverie for violin and orchestra  Op.23  1904   pub. by Zimmermann, Leipzig
'Hamlet' overture Op.31  1905
Valse melancolique from second string quartet

Chamber

String quartet No.1 in G major Op.25  pub. by Zimmermann, Leipzig  1898   
String quartet No.2 in C major Op.28   pub. by Zimmermann, Leipzig  1899
String quartet No.3 in A major Op.30  pub. by Zimmermann, Leipzig  1900
Bagatelle and Serenade for cello and piano  Op.10
Fauillet d'Album for viola and piano in G major Op.33   pub. by P Jurgenson  1906  available from Hawkins Library, Conway Hall.
Petite valse for violin and piano  pub. by P Jurgenson
Arabesque for clarinet and piano  Op.24

Piano

Mazurkas in A and F  Op.15
Mazurka 'Souvenir de Bade' Op.20  1902
Bluette  Op.22
Valse de concert Op.32
Valse-caprice in A flat major  1900
Valse-caprice in D flat major  1900

Songs

2 Duets  Op.17
3 Songs  Op.18
13 songs Op.34
4 songs, Op.35 - O glaub es nicht ; Man liebt dech allgemein; Sei dir selber nicht gram; Die letzen Blatter.
7 songs  Op.37

Choir werke - Volksliedbearbeitungen

Opera

'Cupid's Revenge' Op.13  1899
'The Snowstorm'  1916


^1.
Sergey Aleksandrovitch Taneyev

Adagio and Fugue for orchestra
String Quartet.

^2.
Anna Vyrubova  1884-1964
Sergei Alexandrovitch  1886-1975
Alexandra Alexandrovna  1888-1968

[TerraEpon]

And what of the Concert Suite for Violin and Orchestra, probably his most popular piece?

[Balapoel]

Chamber

10   Bagatelle and Serenade for cello and piano, Op.10   
24   Arabesque for clarinet and piano, Op. 24   
25   String Quartet No. 1 in G major, Op. 25   1898
28   String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 28   1899
30   String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 30   1900
33   Album Leaf (Листок из альбома) in G major for viola and piano, Op. 33   
   Petite valse for violin and piano   

Opera

13   Mest′ Amura [Cupid's Revenge] (1, T.N. Shchepkina-Kupernik), op.13, concert perf., St Petersburg, 7/19 May 1899;
   Metel′ [The Snowstorm] (Svetlov, after D. Tsertelev), Petrograd, 29 Jan/11 Feb 1916 (Moscow, n.d.)

Orchestral

   Symphony No. 1 in A major   1890
9   Suite No. 1 in A   1899
11   Alyosha Popovich, ballade after A.K. Tolstoy, op.11 (Moscow, n.d.);    1899
12   Festive March (Торжественный марш), Op. 12   1900
14   Suite No. 2 in F   1900
15   2 Mazurkas, A, F, op.15;    
21   Symphony No. 2 in bb minor, Op. 21 (1903)   
23   Rêverie for violin and orchestra, Op. 23   
31   Hamlet, Overture, Op. 31 (pub. 1906)   1905
36   Symphony No. 3 in E   1908
   Valse melancolique (from 2nd quartet)   

Piano

15   2 Mazurkas (A, F)   
20   Mazurka No. 3 "Souvenir de Bade", Op. 20   
22   Bluette, Op. 22   
32   Valse de concert, pf, op.32;    
   Valse-caprice in Ab major   1900
   Valse-caprice in Db major   1900

Vocal

17   2 Duets, op.17;
18   3 Songs, op.18;
34   13 Songs, op.34 (Moscow, n.d.);
35   4 songs (O glaub' es nicht; Man liebt dich allgemein; Sei dir selber nicht gram; Die letzten Blatter)
37   7 Songs, op.37 (Moscow, n.d.)
   Chorwerke
   Volksliedbearbeitungen

unknown opp: 1-8, 16, 19, 26-27, 29

[Alan Howe]

And what of the Concert Suite for Violin and Orchestra, probably his most popular piece?

You have the wrong Taneyev, I'm afraid. The Concert Suite was written by Sergei (1856-1915).

[eschiss1]

They were related, though...

[eschiss1]

Also, symphony no.3 is @IMSLP here and is in E, not E-flat. Published by 1907 (HMB 1908, page 2 = 1907, as something that shows up in January 1908's HMB is, unless I am much mistaken about the dating of the issues of HMB - and I may be !! - something published in 1907 or before ).

[Balapoel]

You're right - even Groves (my main source) has it listed as E major - I wonder why I had it as Eb?
Thanks. By the way, of the works I have heard from Alexander Taneyev (the 3 string quartets and Symphony No. 2), they are well-crafted, if not as rigorous in development as works by Sergei Taneyev.

[giles.enders]

You are right, Alexander and Sergei were second cousins, though there was only six years difference in age.  Alexander 1850-1918 Sergei 1856-1915.  I leave it to others to do Sergei's list of works.

[FBerwald]

Are there any recordings of this elusive Taneyev?

[alberto]

I have an elderly Marco Polo CD containing Symphony n.2 and Suite for orch.n2 by Alexander Taneyev.

[Gauk]

I have an elderly Marco Polo CD containing Symphony n.2 and Suite for orch.n2 by Alexander Taneyev.

Which can still be heard online by Naxos subscribers.

[Alan Howe]

Actually, it's still available to buy at Amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-Albert-Philharmonia-Hungarica/dp/B0000277B0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372495549&sr=8-4&keywords=taneyev+symphony+2

[britishcomposer]

I like his string quartets very much. They are in a lighter vein than Sergey's but done with good craftsmanship and very tuneful.
As far as I know they are currently available as downloads only - or used:

http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Taneyev-String-Quartets-Quartet/dp/B0036I9JXM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1372504694&sr=8-16&keywords=alexander+taneyev

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I possess that "elderly Marco Polo" recording referred to above. Actually it isn't all that 'elderly' - the disc states that both works were recorded in "the Recklinghausen, Festspielhaus" (wherever that might be) in December 1986. The recording is well above what counts as 'acceptable', though not obviously 'Chandos-ish' (if I may coin a new adjective). The orchestra is robust but maybe a little rough. The always reliable Mr Peacock provides a detailed and well balanced Amazon review (see Alan's link).

Ha, never too late for an old dog such as me to learn. I was unaware of the CD of the three String Quartets. Many thanks, britishcomposer, for the information which I shall now follow up.

[Gauk]

Actually, it's still available to buy at Amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-Albert-Philharmonia-Hungarica/dp/B0000277B0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372495549&sr=8-4&keywords=taneyev+symphony+2

... though it is listed as "unavailable" on the Naxos website.