Your guide to classical music online

Tansman: Orchestral works

David Hurwitz

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

Aleksander Tansman was a very interesting and eclectic composer. The Fourth Symphony, previously recorded by Israel Yinon on Koch in a performance of very similar (high) quality to this newcomer, has plenty of dissonance and a gnarly, contrapuntal finale that recalls Hindemith. But like Hindemith, Tansman knows just when to let consonant harmony and a good tune or two seep through the texture, and the result is curiously compelling and always interesting. The Four Polish Dances are, as you might expect, immediately appealing, but their sophisticated scoring raises them well above the ordinary for music of this type.

These two works are framed by a couple of Baroque-influenced pieces: the Bach transcription closes the program, while the Frescobaldi Variations make a substantial curtain-raiser. This piece exists in two versions: for full orchestra, and as played here, for strings alone. Somehow this version strikes me as more faithful to the original theme, and the variations never stray very far. A few tart dissonances toward the end betray the music’s relative modernity (1937), but I can’t imagine anyone being put off by this lovely work–particularly as it’s very warmly played by the strings of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic (in Bialystok) under Marcin Nalecz-Niesiolowski. Very natural, vivid engineering completes a wholly enjoyable picture.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: none

ALEKSANDER TANSMAN - Variations on a Theme of Frescobaldi; Symphony No. 4; Four Polish Dances; Nun kommt der Heiden Heiland (Bach chorale arrangement)

  • Record Label: Dux - 542
  • Medium: CD

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the