Tcherepnin's Tchreasure Tchest

[Brian]

I was going to cross-post this in the Alexander Tcherepnin thread, but then realized we don't have one!

Newly arrived today...

Alexander Tcherepnin: Piano Music Vol. 1

[asin]B007N0SXDQ[/asin]

A disc I'd targeted for some time, and I'm very happy indeed. To give some idea, Tcherepnin's father studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and taught Prokofiev, and Tcherepnin himself was friends with Martinu, Honegger and Roussel. So his early piano music (1918-1926) is right in a sweet spot of lyrical, rhythmical modernity that I enjoy very much. The later works are more experimental, harmonically free, and adventurous.

I suppose we can talk about the other members of the Tcherepnin family, but Alexander's the one whose piano music has caught my eye - and, as I recall, whose orchestral works are long favorites of Cato's...

[Cato]

Talk about synchronicity!  I had been thinking about Tcherepnin and whether we had a topic for him, because this is Russian Symphony Month, but at that moment I was unable to check.  I intend to revisit the symphonies as a result.

A CD with the complete piano music!  I had also just skimmed through Amazon looking for new releases and did not see that one!

New people might not have gleaned that I was in contact with Mr. Tcherepnin and his wife back in the 1960's and 1970's.  I was not an official student, but he graciously accepted my juvenilia and encouraged me to continue composing, as opposed to "Kid, find a job down at the docks!"     We also had discussions on aesthetics.

To be sure, Tcherepnin's works tend to be more Liadovian: the 4 symphonies are modest in scope, not epic like many of those by Prokofiev and (of course) Shostakovich.  This is not a criticism, but simply the observation that the emotional content is subtle: the epic may be there in any case, but hidden and very concise.

I have found his works in a general way parallel with Honegger's. 

[Karl Henning]

My job is near the wharf . . . .

[Brian]

A CD with the complete piano music!  I had also just skimmed through Amazon looking for new releases and did not see that one!

An entire series, no less! Volume 2 is also out, and I can assure that the performances are excellent. I'm not sure how many CDs the project will ultimately run to, but I will be collecting them.

This might be a place for you to gather any Tcherepnin stories or insights you may have gleaned, should you like to do so. 

[snyprrr]

All I know is he gets low marks at GMG. All I've got is an inconsequential, very short, String Quartet on an old VoxBox.

[Madiel]

Hmm, I've got 3 works on the EMI box set of Tortelier (the cellist): a piano trio, a duo for violin and cello and a solo cello suite.

Unfortunately, all I can tell you off the top of my head is that the piano trio is one of the few things in my music collection that I actively dislike.  I seem to remember the other 2 works were a little better, but none of them especially inclined me to investigate more.  Tcherepnin afficionados are free to tell me what they think of the piano trio as a work, or as a recording.

[Daverz]

All I know is he gets low marks at GMG. All I've got is an inconsequential, very short, String Quartet on an old VoxBox.

GMG?  What the hell do they know? 

I have the Bis set of orchestral music, and I thought the piano concertos were great.  It doesn't hurt that Noriko Ogawa's playing is a delight to the ears.

[North Star]

GMG?  What the hell do they know? 

I have the Bis set of orchestral music, and I thought the piano concertos were great.  It doesn't hurt that Noriko Ogawa's playing is a delight to the ears.

I have just the Brilliant-licensed set of the piano concertos, great stuff. And the Five Chinese Concert Etudes (Jenny Lin: Chinoiserie) are very nice indeed.

[Cato]

While writing about Tcherepnin elsewhere... http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,21525.120.html

...I decided to dig around to see if some old recordings from the 1960's were floating around on CD's.  A German company named Colosseum offers Tcherepnin's Symphonic Prayer, 5 Russian Dances, and the Ballet Suite from The Abyss.

They seem disconnected from Amazon.

http://www.colosseum.de/product_info.php/info/p2462_MEISTERWERKE-DER-WELT.html

The Abyss ballet suite is first-rate, and the Symphonic Prayer has stayed around.  My original vinyl record did not have the 5 Russian Dances, so I cannot comment on that.

[Mirror Image]

I need to dig out my Tcherepnin box set released on BIS and give a whirl. I don't think I have listened to one note of his music yet. Where should I start?

The box set in question:

[asin]B001JFKVQI[/asin]

[Cato]

I need to dig out my Tcherepnin box set released on BIS and give a whirl. I don't think I have listened to one note of his music yet. Where should I start?

The box set in question:

[asin]B001JFKVQI[/asin]

If you want, one of his top works is the Second Piano Concerto, although the first two symphonies are not bad either.

[Mirror Image]

If you want, one of his top works is the Second Piano Concerto, although the first two symphonies are not bad either.

Kudos, Cato. I'll check those out.

[snyprrr]

wow, this Thread Title regularly gives me the willies haha!!

[Cato]

Again let me recommend (at least) the first two Tcherepnin symphonies:

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This also offers the Fifth Piano Concerto, which I have grown to like quite a bit throughout the years.

c. 45 years ago I (daringly) told Mr. Tcherepnin that the Second Piano Concerto was superior to the Fifth.  His reaction was very tolerant (he was probably amused), now that I look back at it.

Now I would say that the Fifth shows how his style evolved over the decades.

[snyprrr]

How does one tell Tansman from Tcherepnin?

[Cato]

How does one tell Tansman from Tcherepnin?

The Interpoint technique and the 9-tone scales would help.

To be sure, Tansman was also interested in ethnic/exotic music, but is perhaps more influenced by the neoclassical movement than Tcherepnin, and by Jewish traditions.

[asin]B000EFTECG[/asin]

The Sixth Symphony is unusual in that the opening movements are for only one section of the orchestra: one movement for woodwinds alone, for strings alone, and for brass alone.  The complete orchestra is heard in the final movement.  Highly recommended!

[Brian]

Volume Three of the piano music is out now!



I'm listening to the "Eight Pieces, Op. 88," from 1954-55, which are like late romantic tone-pictures viewed through a strange and shifting kaleidoscope. Conventional titles (Reverie, The Chase, Etude) conceal unusual twists. The Reverie is my favorite; it begins with the same rhythmic accompaniment you hear in the second movement of Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite but goes in a very different direction. The booklet tells me that the final "Burlesque" is meant not to evoke clowns, but the fear of clowns!

[lescamil]

Tansman to me is almost a 7th member of Les Six, since he fits into that French neoclassical mold. Tcherepnin is a very varied composer that not only developed those 9 tone scales but also dabbled in exoticism. Just compare the Piano Concerto No. 4 and Piano Concerto No. 5. The two works could not be further apart stylistically.

[Cato]

I have completed listening to entire CD, which I mentioned a day or two ago elsewhere: highly recommended, either for those who have heard some of Tcherepnin's works, or for those completely unacquainted.


[asin]B007N0SXDQ[/asin]

Also recommended to the skeptics!   0:)

[snyprrr]

I have completed listening to entire CD, which I mentioned a day or two ago elsewhere: highly recommended, either for those who have heard some of Tcherepnin's works, or for those completely unacquainted.


[asin]B007N0SXDQ[/asin]

Also recommended to the skeptics!   0:)

You're really trying to get this to Page 2, aren't you?!!