Sergei Taneyev

In this name that followsEastern Slavic naming customs,thepatronymicisIvanovichand thefamily nameisTaneyev.

Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev(Russian:Серге́й Ива́нович Тане́ев,pronounced[sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕtɐˈnʲejɪf];25 November [O.S.13 November] 1856 – 19 June [O.S.6 June] 1915) was a Russiancomposer,pianist,teacher ofcomposition,music theorist and author.

Sergey I. Taneyev

Life

Taneyev was born inVladimir,Vladimir Governorate,Russian Empire,to a cultured and literary family of Russian nobility. A distant cousin,Alexander Taneyev,was also a composer, whose daughter,Anna Vyrubova,was highly influential at court. Alexander was drawn closely to thenationalist schoolof music exemplified byThe Five,while Sergei would gravitate toward a more cosmopolitan outlook, as didTchaikovsky.

He began taking piano lessons at the age of five with a private teacher. His family moved toMoscowin 1865. The following year, the nine-year-old Taneyev entered theMoscow Conservatory.His first piano teacher at the Conservatory was Edward Langer. After a year's interruption in his studies, Taneyev studied again with Langer. He also joined the theory class of Nikolai Hubert and, most importantly, the composition class ofPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.In 1871, Taneyev studied piano with the Conservatory's founder,Nikolai Rubinstein.

Taneyev graduated in 1875, the first student in the history of the Conservatory to win the gold medal both for composition and for performing (piano). He was also the first person to be awarded the Conservatory's Great Gold Medal. That summer he travelled abroad with Rubinstein.That year he also made his debut as a concert pianist in Moscow playingBrahms'sFirst Piano Concerto,and would become known for his interpretations ofBach,MozartandBeethoven.In March 1876 he toured Russia with violinistLeopold Auer.

Taneyev was also the soloist at the Moscow première of Tchaikovsky'sFirst Piano Concertoin December 1875. He was chosen afterGustav Krosshad given a dreadful performance at the concerto's Russian première in St Petersburg three weeks earlier. The conductor on the later occasion wasNikolai Rubinstein,who had famously lambasted the work less than a year earlier (5 January), but who had by that time come to appreciate its merits. Tchaikovsky was clearly impressed by Taneyev's performance; he later asked Taneyev to be soloist in the Russian première of hisSecond Piano Concertoand of hisPiano Trio in A minor.After Tchaikovsky's death, Taneyev edited sketches by Tchaikovsky that he completed with anAndante and Finaleand were premièred as aTchaikovsky Third Piano Concerto.

Taneyev attendedMoscow Universityfor a short time and was acquainted with outstanding Russian writers, includingIvan TurgenevandMikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin.During his travels in Western Europe in 1876 and 1877, he metÉmile Zola,Gustave Flaubert,César Franck,andCamille Saint-Saëns,amongst others.

When Tchaikovsky resigned from the Moscow Conservatory in 1878, Taneyev was appointed to teachharmony.He would later also teach piano and composition. He served as Director from 1885 to 1889, and continued teaching until 1905.He had great influence as a teacher of composition. His pupils includedAlexander Scriabin,Sergei Rachmaninoff,Jacob Weinberg,Reinhold Glière,Paul Juon,Julius Conus,andNikolai Medtner.Thepolyphonicinterweaves in the music of Rachmaninoff and Medtner stem directly from Taneyev's teaching. Scriabin, on the other hand, broke away from Taneyev's influence.

Taneyev was also a scholar of notable erudition. In addition to music, he studied—for relaxation—natural and social science, history, mathematics, plus the philosophies ofPlatoandSpinoza.

During the summers of 1895 and 1896, Taneyev stayed atYasnaya Polyana,the home ofLeo Tolstoyand his wifeSofia.The latter developed an attachment to the composer that embarrassed her children and made Tolstoy jealous, although Taneyev himself remained unaware of it.

In 1905,revolutionand its consequent effect on the Moscow Conservatory led Taneyev to resign from the staff there. He resumed his career as a concert pianist, both as soloist and chamber musician. He was also able to pursue composition more intensely, completing chamber works with a piano part which he could play in concerts as well as some choruses and a substantial number of songs. His last completed work was thecantataAt the Reading of a Psalm,completed at the beginning of 1915.

Taneyev contracted pneumonia after attending the funeral of Scriabin, in Moscow, on 16 April 1915. While he was recovering, he succumbed to a heart attack inDyudkovo,nearZvenigorod.

A museum dedicated to Taneyev is located in Dyudkovo. There is also a section dedicated to Taneyev at theTchaikovsky MuseuminKlin.

Taneyev and Tchaikovsky

Taneyev became the most trusted musician among Tchaikovsky's friends.The two developed a romantic relationship that would last until Tchaikovsky's death.The symphonic poemFrancesca da Rimini,Op. 32, one of Tchaikovsky's most famous orchestral works, is dedicated to Taneyev.

Taneyev was a fastidious and diligent craftsman with an unrivaled technique. Tchaikovsky realized that the opinions of such a man, whose own taste and competence were so high, yet whose self-scrutiny was so exacting, were to be respected, and in consequence came greatly to appreciate criticism from Taneyev. In fact, Taneyev became the only one of Tchaikovsky's friends encouraged by the composer to be absolutely frank about his works.

Taneyev's frankness came at a price, however, and that price for Tchaikovsky was forbearance in the face of a forthrightness that frequently reached the point of absolute bluntness. This meant that, while Tchaikovsky appreciated Taneyev's views and welcomed them, he did not always like them. The postscript to a letter Tchaikovsky wrote to Taneyev aboutEugene Oneginand theFourth Symphonysums up his general frame of mind: "I know you are absolutely sincere and I think a great deal of your judgment. But I also fear it."

Tchaikovsky's use of the word "fear" was not exaggerated. The music writer and composerLeonid Sabaneyevstudied composition with Taneyev as a child and met Tchaikovsky through him. To Sabaneyev, Tchaikovsky really did seem afraid of Taneyev in some ways.He also suggests why:

I think he was unnerved by the overt frankness with which Taneyev reacted to Tchaikovsky's works: Taneyev believed that one must indicate precisely what one finds to be 'faults,' while strong points would make themselves evident. He was hardly fully justified in his conviction: composers are a nervous lot and they are often particularly dissatisfied with themselves. Tchaikovsky was just such a person: he worried himself almost sick over each work and often tried even to destroy them...

Sabaneyev recalled Tchaikovsky's coming to Taneyev with hisFifth Symphony.Taneyev started playing through part of the manuscript at the piano. "With characteristicpedantryTaneyev began showing Tchaikovsky what he considered to be faults, thereby sending Tchaikovsky into even greater despair. Tchaikovsky grabbed the music and wrote across the page with a red pencil: "Awful muck." Still not satisfied with this punishment, he tore the sheet of music in half and threw it on the floor. Then he ran out of the room. Despondently Taneyev picked up the music and told me: "Pyotr Ilyich takes everything to heart. After all, he himself asked me to give my opinion..."

Despite Tchaikovsky's notoriously thin skin when it came to criticism, he could not take any lasting offense at such transparent honesty, especially when Taneyev's assessments could show a great deal of perception.Even if the manner in which Taneyev presented his comments made them sting all the more, Tchaikovsky was painfully grateful for his fellow-musician's candor.

Soon after Tchaikovsky completed his balletThe Nutcracker,Taneyev made a piano transcription of the entire work. On finishing his transcription, he gave it to Tchaikovsky, who then made his own alterations to it. (This transcription was published in 1892.)

Taneyev and The Five

Tchaikovsky was not the only one with whom Taneyev was frank, though some were less appreciative of it.Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,recalling a clash Taneyev had withMily Balakirevduring a rehearsal of a concert to commemorate the unveiling of a monument to the pioneering Russian composerMikhail Glinka,wrote:

"At the rehearsal of the concert he publicly declared to Balakirev: 'Mily Alekseyevich! We are dissatisfied with you.' I picture to myself Balakirev constrained to swallow a rebuke of this sort. Honest, upright and straightforward, Taneyev always spoke sharply and frankly. On the other hand, Balakirev, of course, could never forgive Taneyev his harshness and frankness with regard to his own person."

Nor was this the only time Taneyev shared strong opinions about the St Petersburg based nationalist music group known as "The Mighty Handful"or" The Five. "Rimsky-Korsakov recalls what he considered Taneyev's glaring conservatism in the 1880s. Taneyev reportedly showed" deep distrust "inAlexander Glazunov's early appearances.Alexander Borodinwas merely a clever dilettante, andModest Mussorgsky"had made him laugh". He may not have had a high opinion ofCésar Cuior even of Rimsky-Korsakov himself. However, Rimsky-Korsakov's study of counterpoint, which Taneyev learned of from Tchaikovsky, may have prompted Taneyev to revise his opinion of that composer.

The following decade showed a marked change in opinion, Rimsky-Korsakov writes. Taneyev now appreciated Glazunov, respected Borodin's work, and regarded only Mussorgsky's compositions with disdain. Rimsky-Korsakov ascribed this change to a new period in Taneyev's activity as a composer. Previously he had been absorbed mainly in research for his treatise oncounterpoint,which left him little time for composition. Now he was throwing himself more freely into creative work. In doing so, Taneyev was allowing himself to be guided by the ideals of contemporary music while still preserving "his astounding contrapuntal technique".

Rimsky-Korsakov also writes that, after the fiasco regarding theMariinsky Theatre's production of Taneyev'sOresteia,Mitrofan Belyayev,the publisher and impresario who now headed the "Mighty Handful", shared Taneyev's outrage over the incident and volunteered to publish the score himself. Prior to its publication, Taneyev "revised and signally improved the orchestration, which had not been uniformly satisfactorily... [T]hereafter, Taneyev began to avail himself of Glazunov's advice in orchestration; of course he made rapid strides in that field".Note the "of course". Glazunov had been Rimsky-Korsakov's student in orchestration as well as composition.

Master contrapuntalist

Taneyev's specialized field of study wascounterpoint.He engrossed himself in the music ofJ. S. Bach,Palestrina,and suchFlemishmasters asJohannes Ockeghem,Josquin des Prez,andOrlande de Lassus.Eventually, he became one of the greatest ofcontrapuntalists.

Taneyev published a gigantic two-volume treatise,Moveable Counterpoint in the Strict Style(however, in the 1962 english edition this term appears asconvertible counterpoint), the result of 20 years of labor. In it, the laws of counterpoint are broken down, explained, and brought into focus as a branch of pure mathematics. Taneyev used a quotation fromLeonardo da Vincias its inscription: "No branch of study can claim to be considered a true science unless it is capable of being demonstrated mathematically".

An unfinished sequel onCanonandFuguewas published posthumously.During the 20th century, several books were published, which deal with either theoretical or pedagogical issues related to his theory.

Taneyev's focus on strict counterpoint strongly influenced the way he composed his music. He described this process, while discussing his dramatic trilogyOresteia,in a letter to Tchaikovsky dated 21 June 1891:

I spend a great deal of time on preparatory work, and less time on final composition. Some items I have not finished within the last few years. Important themes which are repeated in the opera, are used by me objectively, without any reference to a particular situation, for studies in counterpoint. Gradually, from this chaos of thoughts and sketches something orderly and definite begins to emerge. Everything extraneous is discarded. That which is unquestionably suitable remains.

Taneyev would continue this series of contrapuntal exercises until he had exhausted everypolyphonicpossibility. Only then would he actually begin composing music.

Rimsky-Korsakov described Taneyev's compositional process similarly, but with more telling detail:

Before setting out for the real expounding of a composition, Taneyev used to precede it with a multitude of sketches and studies: he used to write fugues, canons, and various contrapuntal interlacings on the individual themes, phrases, and motives of the coming composition; and only after gaining thorough experience in its component parts did he take up the general plan of the composition and the carrying out of this plan, knowing by that time, as he did, and perfectly, the nature of the material he had at his disposal and the possibilities of building with that material.

Taneyev's rationale for this process stemmed from his belief that truth and moral integrity in music were synonymous with its objectivity and purpose. He viewed classical concepts of composition as perfect examples of a compositional technique devoid of anything casual or extraneous.

Taneyev also saw a synthesis of counterpoint and folk-song as the means of creating large-scale musical structures that would follow Western rules of thematic development insonata form.This goal had eluded both "The Five" and Tchaikovsky. Taneyev wrote:

The task of every Russian composer consists in furthering the creation of national music. The history of western music gives us the answer as to what should be done to attain this: apply to the Russian song the workings of the mind that were applied to the song of western nations and we will have our own national music. Begin with elementary contrapuntal forms, pass to more complex ones, elaborate the form of the Russianfugue,and from there it is only a step to complex instrumental types. The Europeans took centuries to get there, we need far less. We know the way, the goal, we can profit by their experience.

Music

Main article:List of compositions by Sergei Taneyev

Compositionally, Taneyev and Tchaikovsky differed on how they feltmusic theoryshould function. Tchaikovsky prized spontaneity in musical creativity. Taneyev, in contrast, thought musical creativity should be both deliberate and intellectual, with preliminary theoretical analysis and preparation of thematic materials.

As a consequence Taneyev took an intellectual approach in his characterization of the music of his teacher, Tchaikovsky.Nevertheless, Taneyev's compositions reveal his mastery of classical composition technique, so that his style could be said to reflect the European, and especially German, orientation of the Moscow Conservatory, rather than the Russiannationalistoutlook of the school ofMily Balakirev.

His compositions include nine completestring quartets(plus two partially completed), apiano quintet,twostring quintetsand other chamber works, including a pianoprelude and fugue in G-sharp minor;foursymphonies(onlythe last onepublished during his lifetime, and at least one incomplete), a concert suite with violin and apiano concerto,and other orchestral works; an organ compositionChorale with variations;choraland vocal music. Among the choral works are two cantatas,St. John of Damascus,Op.1 (also known asA Russian Requiem), andAt the Reading of a Psalm(Op. 36, sometimes regarded as hisswan song). In his choral works the composer combines the melodic basis of the traditional Russian musical style with remarkable contrapuntal writing.

Taneyev regarded hisOresteia,originally conceived in 1882, as his major achievement. This work, which the composer entitled a 'musical trilogy' rather than an opera, was closely modeled on the original plays ofAeschylusand was first performed at theMariinsky Theatreon 17 October 1895. Taneyev wrote a separate concert overture, based on some of the opera's major themes, which was conducted by Tchaikovsky in 1889.

Rimsky-Korsakov considered many of Taneyev's compositions to be "most dry and laboured in character."A private hearing ofOresteiaat his home, with Taneyev at the piano, was quite another matter. The opera, he writes, "astonished us all with pages of extraordinary beauty and expressiveness".He added that Taneyev's working methods "ought to result in a dry and academic composition, devoid of the shadow of an inspiration; in reality, however,Oresteiaproved quite the reverse—for all its strict premeditation, the opera was striking in its wealth of beauty and expressiveness. "

Along with beauty and expressiveness, Taneyev's music could also show a whimsical streak.Gerald Abrahamwrites, "Taneyev had a dual nature rather likeLewis Carroll's, half mathematician, half humorist ". Among Taneyev's unpublished works are reportedly various parodies, including" Quartets of Government Officials "," humorous choruses, comic fugues and variations, toy symphonies, a mock ballet for Tchaikovsky's birthday with an absurd scenario, and music which is an ingenious contrapuntal pot-pourri of themes from Tchaikovsky's works ".

Selected discography

• The Russian Piano Quartet: Taneyev's Piano Quartet in E major, Op. 20;Paul Juon's Rhapsody; andAlexander Borodin's Polovtsian Dances. Performed by the Ames Piano Quartet (Dorian93215)
• Concert Suite for Violin & Orchestra; Entr'acte; and Oresteya Overture. Performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted byVladimir AshkenazyandPekka Kuusistoas violin soloist (Ondine959-2)
• Trio in E-flat major, Op. 31; Trio in B minor; and Trio in D major. Performed by the Belcanto Strings (MDG6341003)
• Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30; and Piano Trio in D major, Op. 22. Performed byMikhail Pletnev(piano),Vadim Repin(violin) andLynn Harrell(cello) joined in the quintet byIlya Gringolts(violin) andNobuko Imai(viola) (Deutsche Grammophon4775419)
• Symphony No. 1; and Symphony No. 3. Performed by theRussian State Symphony Orchestraconducted byValery Polyansky(Chandos10390), 2004
• Symphony No. 2; and Symphony No. 4. Performed by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valeri Polyansky (Chandos 9998)
• Symphony No. 4; and theOresteiaOverture, Op. 6. Performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted byNeeme Järvi(Chandos 8953)
• String Quartets 1 and 4. Performed by the Leningrad Taneyev Quartet. Reissue of a Melodiya LP on Northern Flowers NF/PMA 9933 (and the other quartets, in five volumes.)
• String Quartets 8 and 9. Performed by theLeningrad Taneiev Quartet.(Melodiya MA 12411; reissued on Olympia OCD 128)
• Piano Trio in D; Piano Quartet in E. Performed by the Barbican Piano Trio with James Boyd (viola). (DuttonCDSA 6882)

Bibliography

• Convertible Counterpoint in the Strict Style,by Sergei Taneyev. 1962 edition, Branden Pub. Co.ISBN0-8283-1415-2.Preface bySerge Koussevitzky.
• Doctrine of Canon,1915 (available in English throughProQuestas part of the dissertationSergei Ivanovich Taneev's 'Doctrine of the Canon': A translation and commentary (Russia).by Paul R Grove, II.)
• Подвижной контрапунктъ строгаго письма[Moveable counterpoint in the strict style], by Sergei Taneyev. 1st edition. Moscow & Leipzig, Beliaeff, 1909. (available viaIMSLP)

Sources

• Bakst, James,A History of Russian-Soviet Music(New York: Dodd, Mean & Company, 1966, 1962).
• Belina, Anastasia. "The Master of Moscow", inInternational Piano Magazine,January–February 2007, pp. 62–65.
• Brown, David(ed.) Stanley Sadie, "Taneyev, Sergey Ivanovich",The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition,29 vols. (London: Macmillan, 2001).ISBN1-56159-239-0.
• Brown, David,Tchaikovsky: The Crisis Years, 1874-1878,(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1983).ISBN9780393017076.
• Hanson, Lawrence and Hanson, Elisabeth,Tchaikovsky: The Man Behind the Music(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company).
• Leonard, Richard Anthony,A History of Russian Music(Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1977, 1957).
• Poznansky, Alexander,Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes (Russian Music Series)(Indiana University Press, 1999).
• Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai,Letopis Moyey Muzykalnoy Zhizni(St. Petersburg, 1909), published in English asMy Musical Life(New York: Knopf, 1925, 3rd ed. 1942).
• Swan, Alfred J.,Russian Music and Its Sources in Chant and Folk-Song(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1973).OCLC702069.
• Warrack, John,Tchaikovsky(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973).
• Beattie Davis, Richard, "The Beauty of Belaieff" (G Clef Publishing, 2007).

External links

• Sergey Taneyev, Cantata "John of Damascus"onYouTube-Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestraand Choir, cdr.Vasily Petrenko
• ReviewArchivedSeptember 28, 2007, at theWayback Machineof concert performance of 'Oresteia' (St. Petersburg,2006).
• Reviewof recording of Taneyev's Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 by Michael Carter inFanfare Magazine.
• Sergei Taneyev String Quartet No.2 & String Quintets Opp.14 & 16 sound-bites and biographical information
• ArticleSergei Taneyev: Tchaikovsky's Heir or the Russian Bach?
• Turgenev and Taneyev
• Free scores by Taneyevat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
• Free scores by Sergei Taneyevin theChoral Public Domain Library(ChoralWiki)
• "Tanjeff, Serge Ivanovitch".Encyclopedia Americana.1920.