Aleksander Tansman (1897-1986)

[Dundonnell]

The new CD has just finished playing on my machine

The 2nd Symphony has a lovely, if slighty cheesy slow movement while the 3rd is a real exercise in neo-baroque meets jazzy jollity
If you like the Martinu of the 20s and early 30s you will like the 3rd

[Maciek]

Wow! You're quick! Thanks for the mini-review!

[vandermolen]

Which is the best symphony? I only have No 5 with Stele in Memory of Stravinsky etc on Marco Polo. I also find it a bit dry but feel that I need to know this composer a bit better.

[M forever]

I think Tansman wrote a concerto or some similar kind of solo piece for bassoon which is sometimes played in auditions and exams at music academies, at least that seems to be the only context in which I have heard his name.

[Dundonnell]

Which is the best symphony? I only have No 5 with Stele in Memory of Stravinsky etc on Marco Polo. I also find it a bit dry but feel that I need to know this composer a bit better.

Oh..I wish that I could be more helpful here. My difficulty is that I have found Tansman an ultimately rather unmemorable composer. Technically proficient, elegant, vigorous music heavily influenced by Stravinsky and, to an extent Ravel and Prokofiev. But at the end of the day little really lingers with me or entices me back to listen again

The advantage of the Chandos series is that you get Nos. 4-6 and Nos. 7-9 on two discs which does have the merit of allowing you to sample quite a bit of Tansman's symphonic style. If I recall correctly, Nos. 6 and 9 made most impression on me but I can't be absolutely sure of that

[vandermolen]

Oh..I wish that I could be more helpful here. My difficulty is that I have found Tansman an ultimately rather unmemorable composer. Technically proficient, elegant, vigorous music heavily influenced by Stravinsky and, to an extent Ravel and Prokofiev. But at the end of the day little really lingers with me or entices me back to listen again

The advantage of the Chandos series is that you get Nos. 4-6 and Nos. 7-9 on two discs which does have the merit of allowing you to sample quite a bit of Tansman's symphonic style. If I recall correctly, Nos. 6 and 9 made most impression on me but I can't be absolutely sure of that

Thanks Colin.  I think I'll stick with my Marco Polo CD 

[Maciek]

I think Tansman wrote a concerto or some similar kind of solo piece for bassoon which is sometimes played in auditions and exams at music academies, at least that seems to be the only context in which I have heard his name.

Well, the list of works that I linked to somewhere above seems to be gone and I have nowhere else to check. Maybe you mean his Sonatine for bassoon and piano? Available on this disc.

Oddly enough, I have another recording of this same piece where it is called "Suite for basson and piano"?? I haven't go a clue as to which version is correct...

[Dax]

Does anybody know the (complete) Le tour de monde en miniature for piano? I'm impressed by the 3 pieces I've heard and wonder if the rest are just as captivating.

[karlhenning]

"2nd International Competition of Musical Personalities" ?? ?? ?

[Maciek]

Does anybody know the (complete) Le tour de monde en miniature for piano? I'm impressed by the 3 pieces I've heard and wonder if the rest are just as captivating.

Well, what I have is a recording of 15 pieces and I assume that's the complete set. They are all very short (the whole cycle is just over 21 minutes, at least as played by Waldemar Malicki). The tour is generally very good, one of my favorite Tansman pieces. I should add that I don't know much of his piano music so can't really say how it compares to his other piano pieces. Among the ones I do know Quatre danses polonaises are really great, another favorite - and they are also available in an excellent chamber orchestra version.

[Maciek]

"2nd International Competition of Musical Personalities" ?? ?? ?

Well, you know what they say - sometimes a little personality can go a long way...

[Dax]

Well, what I have is a recording of 15 pieces and I assume that's the complete set. They are all very short (the whole cycle is just over 21 minutes, at least as played by Waldemar Malicki). The tour is generally very good, one of my favorite Tansman pieces. I should add that I don't know much of his piano music so can't really say how it compares to his other piano pieces. Among the ones I do know Quatre danses polonaises are really great, another favorite - and they are also available in an excellent chamber orchestra version.

Thanks for that, Maciek. Malicki's recording (which I've been on the lookout for) is the complete set. The three I've heard (relating to the music of Java and Japan) seem extremely well written and observed - sounds as though the others are equally as interesting.

[Maciek]

You're welcome. If the ones you've already heard are Java and Japan, then you're bound to enjoy the whole cycle - those are very representative (the "jazzy" American piece which comes first is a bit unlike all the others - mind you, it's great fun, just less representative of the whole set).

The choice of countries in the cycle is very interesting too: it's as un-Eurocentric as could be imagined, with only one European entrant (Naples!), and in a sense - this is not a "complete" tour at all.

BTW, I'm not sure if Malicki's recording has been released on CD. I have it on cassette - and I wouldn't mind getting a CD version myself.

[Dax]

BTW, I'm not sure if Malicki's recording has been released on CD.

It has.

http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Polish-Piano-Music-Paderewski/dp/B00000E2I7/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231429467&sr=1-5

A bit pricey, that one.

[Maciek]

Damn! How could I have missed that? I have never seen that cover before. Hm, secondhand copies of discs from that series are usually very cheap over here but very difficult to come by...

(Funny thing is - I have Rinko Kobayashi's Paderewski on cassette as well. The Fugue is quite cool but then I generally like fugues...)

[Maciek]

Well, the list of works that I linked to somewhere above seems to be gone and I have nowhere else to check. Maybe you mean his Sonatine for bassoon and piano? Available on this disc.

Oddly enough, I have another recording of this same piece where it is called "Suite for basson and piano"?? I haven't go a clue as to which version is correct...

On second thought: the movement titles are a dead give away. It's a "sonatine".

[Maciek]

The plot thickens...

Movement titles notwithstanding, Tansman appears to have written both a Suite and a Sonatine for bassoon and piano. Both available on this "new" Acte Prealable release (it appears to have been released in 2007 but they still have it listed in their "new releases" section...):

AP0167

[nut-job]

After obtaining to all three of the Chandos releases and listening to two I am decidedly underwhelmed.  I would agree that the music is well crafted, but it just seems to go by without making much of an impression, sort of like ultra-polite neoclassical Stravinsky.  I've already sold the two I've listened to, the question is whether I sell the third before or after I try to listen to it.

[Maciek]

I've already sold the two I've listened to, the question is whether I sell the third before or after I try to listen to it.

Well, if you ever decide you want to just give the disc away, just PM me. I'll be happy to help.

[nut-job]

Well, if you ever decide you want to just give the disc away, just PM me. I'll be happy to help.

Fortunately for me (but not for you) these are relatively new releases and still fetch a decent prime on Amazon marketplace.