Tansman, Alexander
Trio (11:00) Paris, 1949 Publisher: Max Eschig (c1954)
I. Dialogue
II. Scherzino
III. Aria
IV. Finale
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Tansman provides vast contrast in tempo between the slow and fast movements. The work opens with a musical conversation between all three instruments lead by the oboe. Both slow movements are very contrapuntal with modal melodies. Expressive melodies, lead by the oboe, are passed to the clarinet and bassoon in turn. The fast movements are very rhythmical, and the rhythm is often split between two instruments. The melody is predominantly in oboe and clarinet. The composer also shows interest in certain rhythms (for example: accented 2 sixteenth notes and an eight note) that are present in here as in his other works. He likes the Scherzino melodic and rhythmic motivic material enough to use it again in the “Sonatine” for bassoon and piano written 3 years later.
The work exhibits difficult challenges of ensemble playing. The composer splits rhythmical material between the voices, making ensemble precision very difficult. The oboe part, especially in the forth movement, is very demanding because of the wide leaps in the thematic material.
Grade: V
Recordings: Tansman: Chamber Music , Presto Classical CD 5050-21; Szalowski, Spisak, Palester, Lutosławski, Tansman, Krauze, Krakowskie Trio Stroikowe (Crocow Reed Trio), Lebel: DUX 0493, 2005; several youtube live recordings
Sheet music source: trevcomusic.com, sheetmusicplus.com
Alexander Tansman
Born in Łódź on June 11, 1897, and died in Paris on November 15, 1986.
He was a pianist, composer, and a conductor. He began his musical training in Łódź, where in 1915 he made a debut as a pianist and composer at a charity event. However, when choosing what to study in college, he entered University of Warsaw as a law student. At the same time, he continued his counterpoint and compositional studies privately. In 1919, he won a composition competition with his composition for violin and piano titled “Romance”. In November of that year, he left for Paris where he was fortunate to meet and make a lot of influential friends, among them M. Ravel.
As a pianist and a composer, Tansman had significant number of concert tours which presented many of his compositions to audiences in Europe, Japan, China, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malesia, India, Egypt, and the United Sates. Here, he shared the stage with Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. In 1941, Tansman left Europe to escape the war and settled in Hollywood where he worked as a composer and wrote music for film. At this time, he also authored a book which was a detailed study of Igor Stravinsky. In 1946, he returned to Paris and concentrated on composing. In 1986, he received an honorary doctorate from Music Academy in Łódź after many years of not being recognized in his own country.