The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has an outstanding reputation for presenting twentieth-century music and for re-discovering neglected composers, something wonderfully demonstrated by this new recording which follows the recent, critically applauded recording of orchestral works by Rudi Stephan.
Polish-born Tansman enjoyed considerable international success during his long and distinguished career as composer, pianist and conductor, contributing to almost every musical genre. He received numerous international honors and awards throughout his lifetime and his music was championed by the leading conductors and soloists of his day, including Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy and Josef Szigeti.
Since his death, the music of Tansman has been largely neglected and is only now beginning to receive renewed attention.
Essentially a neo-classicist, Tansman revealed an instinctive romanticism in his Scriabinesque, chromatic harmony which bordered at times on the atonal. Symphony No. 4 belongs to the period of his greatest success, when Tansman had achieved recognition in Europe and was beginning to establish his reputation in the United States. He demonstrates his considerable orchestral and contrapuntal virtuosity in the baroque-inspired textures of the jazzy Allegro giocoso, a vigorous, expanded fugue.
Composed in Hollywood in 1942, Symphony No. 5 was one of his major works of the American years. Symphony No. 6 in Memoriam, here receiving its premiere recording, bears witness to the increasing nostalgia which Tansman bore for his beloved France. Although composed in Los Angeles in 1944, the symphony is dedicated "to the memory of all those who have fallen for France" and sets Tansman's own French text in the final movement. Intended to be performed without breaks between movements, the work is more compact than Tansman's previous symphonies and represents a progressive exploration of different instrumental colours and combinations, while still owing much to Stravinsky.
"This is fascinating and frequently intoxicating repertoire and I urge you to try it. The sound is spacious and true." - Gramophone
Features:
• Recorded in 24-bit/96kHz
• World premiere recording of Tansman's Symphony No. 6
• SACD surround sound dual layer hybrid playable on all CD players
Musicians:
Melbourne Chorale
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Oleg Caetani, conductor
Daniel Kossov, concertmaster
Selections:
Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986)
Symphonies, Volume 1 - The War Years
1.-3. Symphony No. 4
4.-7. Symphony No. 5
8.-11. Symphony No. 6 "In Memoriam"
Total Time: 68:17
Recorded in Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia September 6-10, 2005
Polish-born Tansman enjoyed considerable international success during his long and distinguished career as composer, pianist and conductor, contributing to almost every musical genre. He received numerous international honors and awards throughout his lifetime and his music was championed by the leading conductors and soloists of his day, including Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy and Josef Szigeti.
Since his death, the music of Tansman has been largely neglected and is only now beginning to receive renewed attention.
Essentially a neo-classicist, Tansman revealed an instinctive romanticism in his Scriabinesque, chromatic harmony which bordered at times on the atonal. Symphony No. 4 belongs to the period of his greatest success, when Tansman had achieved recognition in Europe and was beginning to establish his reputation in the United States. He demonstrates his considerable orchestral and contrapuntal virtuosity in the baroque-inspired textures of the jazzy Allegro giocoso, a vigorous, expanded fugue.
Composed in Hollywood in 1942, Symphony No. 5 was one of his major works of the American years. Symphony No. 6 in Memoriam, here receiving its premiere recording, bears witness to the increasing nostalgia which Tansman bore for his beloved France. Although composed in Los Angeles in 1944, the symphony is dedicated "to the memory of all those who have fallen for France" and sets Tansman's own French text in the final movement. Intended to be performed without breaks between movements, the work is more compact than Tansman's previous symphonies and represents a progressive exploration of different instrumental colours and combinations, while still owing much to Stravinsky.
"This is fascinating and frequently intoxicating repertoire and I urge you to try it. The sound is spacious and true." - Gramophone
Features:
• Recorded in 24-bit/96kHz
• World premiere recording of Tansman's Symphony No. 6
• SACD surround sound dual layer hybrid playable on all CD players
Musicians:
Melbourne Chorale
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Oleg Caetani, conductor
Daniel Kossov, concertmaster
Selections:
Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986)
Symphonies, Volume 1 - The War Years
1.-3. Symphony No. 4
4.-7. Symphony No. 5
8.-11. Symphony No. 6 "In Memoriam"
Total Time: 68:17
Recorded in Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia September 6-10, 2005
