Alexander Taneyev

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Taneyev

Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Тане́ев, also transliterated as Taneiev, Tanaiev, Taneieff, and Taneyeff in English; January 17, 1850 –February 7, 1918) was a Russian composer of the late Romantic era, specifically of the nationalist school. Among his best works were three string quartets, believed to have been composed between 1898-1900. Alexander Taneyev is not well-known outside Russia. His name is often confused with that of his distant cousin Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915) (who was sometimes known as the "Russian Brahms" due to the emphasis he placed on structural thinking over orchestration and texture). Taneyev was the father of Anna Vyrubova, a lady in waiting and best friend of Tsarina Alexandra. Vyrubova was best known for her relationship with the Romanov family and for her attachment to the starets Grigori Rasputin.

Background

Alexander Taneyev inherited an enthusiasm for music from his parents. He was dissuaded from pursuing a career as a musician due to his position in the Russian upper class. After studying at university, he entered the Russian civil service, succeeding his father as Director of the Imperial Chancellery. After 1900 he was the head of the folksong collection project of the Russian Geographical Society. Several of the songs collected during this period were later arranged and published by Anatoly Lyadov.
Taneyev pursued musical studies in Germany and later in Petersburg, where he became a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Taneyev's situation at this time bore similarities to that of fellow composer Alexander Borodin. Both were composers whose main occupation was not in music (Borodin was a chemistry professor; Taneyev held a bureaucratic post). It was rumored that Taneyev kept a score that he was working on hidden beneath official documents so that he might pen a few notes between appointments. Taneyev's compositional output was large: two operas, three symphonies, several pieces for orchestra, numerous choral works, and a considerable amount of chamber music including three string quartets. The influence on his work of the other Russian nationalist composers, such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev and Lyadov, is often noted.

Selected works

Opera

• Cupid's Revenge (Месть Амура), opera, Op. 13 (1899); libretto by Tatyana Lvovna Shchepkina-Kupernik
• The Blizzard (Метель), opera in 2 acts, 4 scenes (1914); libretto by V. Svetlov after poems of D. Tsertelev

Orchestral

• Suite No. 1, Op. 9
• Suite No. 2 in F major, Op. 14

1. Theme with Variations
2. Menuetto. Tranquillo
3. Andantino
4. Finale. Allegro con spirito

• Symphony No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 21 (1903)

1. Andante - Allegro
2. Scherzo
3. Adagio mosso
4. Finale. Allegro vivacissimo

• Hamlet, Overture, Op. 31

Concertante

• Rêverie for violin and orchestra, Op. 23

Chamber music

• Petite valse for violin and piano
• Bagatelle and Serenade for cello and piano, Op.10
• String Quintet for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos, Op. 14
• Arabesque for clarinet and piano, Op. 24
• String Quartet No. 1 in G major, Op. 25
• String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 28
• String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 30
• Album Leaf (Листок из альбома) in G major for viola and piano, Op. 33

Piano

• Valse-caprice in A♭ major
• Valse-caprice in D♭ major
• Mazurka No. 1, Op. 15
• Mazurka No. 3 "Souvenir de Bade", Op. 20
• Bluette, Op. 22

Personal life

Taneyev married Nadezhda Illarionovna Tolstoy (1860-1937). They had three children: Anna Vyrubova (1884-1964); Sergei Alexandrovich (1886-1975); and Alexandra Alexandrovna (1888-1968), who married Alexander Erikovich von Pistohlkors, the stepson of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.

Александр Сергеевич (6.1.1850-25.1.1918), окончил С.-Петербургский университет, поступил на службу в Собственную Его Императорского Величества канцелярию (1873), камер-юнкер (1876), камергер (1886), тайный советник и гофмейстер (1895), главноуправляющий Собственной Его Императорского Величества канцелярии (1896), статс-секретарь (1906), член Государственного Совета и обер-гофмейстер (1906), кавалер орденов св. Александра Невского и св. Владимира I ст. Композитор, директор Русского Музыкального общества, почетный член Академии Наук. Ж.: (с 29.6.1882) Графиня Надежда Илларионовна Толстая (8.11.1860-13.3.1937, Выборг, Финляндия), дочь генерал-лейтенанта графа Иллариона Николаевича Толстого и его жены княжны Александры Алексеевны Голицыной, кавалерственная дама ордена св. Екатерины малого креста, попечительница 1-го С.-Петербургского дамского комитета общества Красного Креста (1914)

• Festive March (Торжественный марш), Op. 12

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Тайный Советник, Камергер, Член Государственного Совета Российской Империи, Кавалер Орденов: Святого Князя Александра Невского и Святого Владимира 1-ой степени, Директор Русского Музыкального общества, композитор - любитель.