Taneyev, Alexander (Sergeievich)

views updated

Taneyev, Alexander (Sergeievich)

Taneyev, Alexander (Sergeievich), Russian composer; b. St. Petersburg, Jan. 17, 1850; d. there (Petrograd), Feb. 7, 1918. He was educated at the Univ. of St. Petersburg, and also studied composition with F. Reichel in Dresden; upon his return to St. Petersburg, he took lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov. Music was his avocation; he followed a government career, advancing to the post of head of the Imperial Chancellery. The style of his music is Romantic, lapsing into sentimentalism; the main influence is that of Tchaikovsky.

Works

dramatic: Opera: Cupid’s Revenge (concert perf., St. Petersburg, May 19, 1899); The Snowstorm (Petrograd, Feb. 11, 1916). ORCH.: 3 syms. (1890, 1903, 1908); 2 suites; Alyosha Popovich, ballade; Festival March; 2 mazurkas; Reverie for Violin and Orch.; Hamlet, overture. CHAMBER: Bagatelle and Serenade for Cello and Piano; Arabesque for Clarinet and Piano; 3 string quartets; Feuillet d’album for Viola and Piano; piano pieces. VOCAL: Songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire