Taneyev Chamber Works

Not many people would be familiar with Sergey Taneyev, so I will start by giving you a brief introduction to the composer. Taneyev (1856-1915) was a key figure in Russian music history. He began studies in piano at the age of 5 and soon emerged as a great pianist. He performed the premieres of many great works. His studies eventually led him to composing, and he became great polyphonist. Many describe him as a romantic Bach.

Taneyev's music is rather dense and very contrapuntal with its melodies, at first, rather hidden and, to me, hard to decipher. Once I took the time to intently listen I was able to grasp what Taneyev was trying to "say" with his music.

Starting with the fabulous quintet, I was lucky enough to view the score, as my piano teacher had performed it on a number of occasions and let me borrow the score. The first movement is a turbulent piece in sonata form with a sweetly tender second subject (in the unorthodox key of A flat major) which contains two very expressive and poignant features: a rising seventh in its second bar and a sixth in its penultimate bar. What's even more unusual about this melody, as an Amazon reviewer points out, is that its first six notes are an inversion of the first theme's initial six notes! This melody returns at the very end of the work in a most grandiose and spectacular fashion. The second movement is a deft scherzo in E flat major with a beautiful trio that returns in the da capo in combination with the scherzo theme.

The slow movement is based entirely on a descending C major scale above which is placed a most beautiful melody, music of haunting beauty.

The finale is another stormy movement which ultimately leads to a reprise of the second subject of the first movement in an ecstatic peroration. Once heard, you will never forget the way that initially tender and unassuming lyrical melody is transformed into a rapturous G major triumph. That rising seventh I mentioned earlier lends this melody a particularly blissful quality, especially noticeable when the first violin and the cello soar to amazing heights while playing at the upper limits of their registers in the coda. This coda is extraordinarily beautiful and ends the quintet in a tremendous 'explosion' of sound.

Coming immediately after the joyous conclusion of the quintet, the trio is a bit anticlimactic, but it is still a beautiful work. I didn't have a score so I can't really write with much authority, just my opinions. My favorite movement is the ferocious scherzo. It is easily the equal of any of the standard piano trios that are played over and over again.

I give these chamber works 9/10, easily right up there with the finest chamber pieces ever composed. I really can't understand their lack of popularity and fame, rather like Harry feels about Arnold Bax' works.