Alexandre Tansman

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Memorial plaque in Łódź

Alexandre Tansman ( Aleksander Tansman , born June 11, 1897 in Łódź , Russian Empire ; died November 15, 1986 in Paris ) was a Polish - French composer .

Life

Tansman was born in Łódź to Jewish parents and grew up there. He started playing the piano at the age of four and began composing at the age of eight. He studied composition at the Łódź Music Academy and the Warsaw Music Academy . In 1919 he won the Polish National Composition Competition for anonymous youth works, for which he had submitted two compositions (first prize went to his Fantasy for Violin and Piano , the second to a piano sonata). He then moved to France and in 1920 took French citizenship. From 1932 to 1933 he went on a world tour. After the German occupation of France in 1940 he fled to the south of France and in 1941 managed to escape to the USA via Lisbon .

In Hollywood he mainly worked as a composer for films. There he made friends with Igor Stravinsky , who influenced him very much. At the Academy Awards in 1946 he was nominated for the Oscar for best film music for the Gregory Ratoff- directed war drama Paris Underground (1945) with Constance Bennett , Gracie Fields and George Rigaud in the leading roles. Overall, he was responsible for the background music and accompaniment for fifteen films.

In 1946 Tansman returned to Paris. In 1947 he wrote a biography of Stravinsky's. Tansman was married to the pianist Colette Cras (d. 1953), the daughter of the French composer Jean Cras , since 1937 , and they had two daughters. He died in Paris on November 15, 1986.

Works

Tansman wrote 9 symphonies , 2 piano concertos, the Stèle in memoriam d'Igor Stravinsky , the oratorio Isaïe, le prophète , chamber and piano music. His compositions are - in addition to Stravinsky's influences - also shaped by reminiscences of Polish folk music .

Works for orchestra

Symphonies

  • 1917: Symphony No. 1
  • 1926: Symphony No. 2 in a
  • 1931: Symphony No. 3 - “Symphonie concertante” , for violin, viola, cello, piano and orchestra
  • 1936–1939: Symphony No. 4
  • 1942: Symphony No. 5 in d
  • 1944: Symphony No. 6 - “In memoriam” , for mixed choir and orchestra
  • 1944: Symphony No. 7 - "Lyrique"
  • 1948: Symphony No. 8 - "Musique pour orchester"
  • 1957–1958: Symphony No. 9

Solo concerts with orchestra

  • 1925: Concert No. 1 for piano and orchestra
  • 1927: Concert No. 2 for piano and orchestra
  • 1928: Suite , for two pianos and orchestra
  • 1929: Suite dans le style ancien , for piano and small orchestra
  • 1931: Concertino , for piano and orchestra
  • 1936: Fantaisie , for cello and orchestra
  • 1936–1937: Concerto , for viola and orchestra
  • 1937: Concerto , for violin and orchestra
  • 1937: Fantaisie , for piano and orchestra
  • 1943: Concert stuk , for piano (for the left hand) and orchestra
  • 1944: Partita n ° 2 , for piano and orchestra
  • 1945: Concertino , for guitar and orchestra
  • 1952: Concertino , for oboe, clarinet and string orchestra
  • 1957: Concerto , for clarinet and orchestra
  • 1960: Musique de Cour for guitar and orchestra
  • 1963: Concerto , for cello and orchestra
  • 1968: Suite concertante , for oboe and chamber orchestra
  • 1968: Concertino , for flute, string orchestra and piano

Other orchestral works

  • 1915–1916: Prometheus , symphonic poem
  • 1916–1917: Toison d'or , symphonic poem based on Greek mythology
  • 1919: Prelude symphonique
  • 1920: Vision nocturne , symphonic impressions for orchestra
  • 1923: “La Danse de la sorcière” uit het ballet “Le Jardin du paradis” , for orchestra
  • 1923: Legend
  • 1924: Sinfonietta , for chamber orchestra
  • 1926: Ouverture symphonique , for large orchestra
  • 1927: Esquisse , for orchestra
  • 1927: La Nuit kurde , symphonic suite from the opera
  • 1928–1929: Toccata , for orchestra
  • 1930: Cinq Pièces , for violin and small orchestra
  • 1930: Triptyque , for string orchestra
    1. Allegro risoluto
    2. Andante
    3. Finale: presto - andante cantabile - tempo primo - meno mosso - moderato - lento
  • 1931: Quatre danses polonaises
    1. polka
    2. Kujawiak
    3. Dumka
    4. Oberek
  • 1932: Deux moments symphoniques
  • 1933: Deux pièces , for orchestra
  • 1933: Partita , for string orchestra
  • 1933: Rapsodie hébraïque , for small orchestra
  • 1934: Deux intermezzi
  • 1935: Deux images de la Bible
  • 1937: Variations on un thème de Frescobaldi
  • 1937: Suite n ° 1 , for chamber orchestra
  • 1938: Rapsodie hébraïque , for orchestra
  • 1938–1939: Deux Chorals de Johann Sebastian Bach
  • 1940: Rapsodie polonaise
  • 1940–1942: Études symphoniques
  • 1941: Study in Boogie-woogie
  • 1943: Sérénade nr 3 , for orchestra
  • 1944: Divertimento , for chamber orchestra
  • 1944: Adam and Eve , for speaker and orchestra, (= 3rd movement of the Genesis Suite in collaboration with Arnold Schönberg , Darius Milhaud , Igor Stravinsky , Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco , Ernst Toch and Nathaniel Shilkret )
  • 1946: Le cantique des cantiques , muzikaal poem for chamber orchestra
  • 1947: Musique pour cordes, “Quatuor n ° 7” , for string quartet and string orchestra
  • 1949: Allegro sinfonico
  • 1949: “Suite dans le goût espagnol” uit “Voyage de Magellan” , for orchestra
  • 1949–1956: Musique de table
  • 1954: Capriccio , for orchestra
  • 1954: Concerto , for orchestra
  • 1956: 4 mouvements symphoniques
  • 1962: Six Études , for orchestra
    1. Allegro risoluto
    2. Andante sostenuto, quasi lento
    3. Allegro scherzando (vivace)
    4. Lento
    5. Allegro con spirito
    6. Très lent
  • 1963: Six Mouvements , for string orchestra
  • 1968: Quatre Mouvements , for orchestra
    1. Nocturne
    2. perpetual motion machine
    3. Interlude - Elegia
    4. Ostinato (Toccata)
  • 1969: Diptyque , for chamber orchestra
  • 1969: Homage to Erasme de Rotterdam
  • 1972: Stèle in memoriam d' Igor Stravinsky
  • 1975: Élégie , for orchestra
  • 1978: Apostrophe to Sion
  • 1978: Sinfonietta n ° 2 , for chamber orchestra
  • 1978-1979: Les dix Commandements

Piano works

  • 1915: Sonata for piano solo
  • 1919: Petite Suite 7 pieces for piano solo
  • 1922: 3 Études transcendantes for piano solo
  • 1928: Sonata for piano solo
  • 1929: Suite dans le style ancien
  • 1930: Arabeques
  • 1932: Sonata for piano solo
  • 1934: Cinq Impressions
  • 1941: Sonata for piano solo
  • 1949: Eight Cantilenas, Hommage a JS Bach
  • 1951: Les jeunes au piano
  • 1952: Quatre Nocturnes , à Igor Stravinsky pour le 18 Juin 1952
  • 1955: Sonata for piano solo

Works for guitar

  • 1951: Cavatina
  • 1962: Suite in modo polonico
  • 1966: Homage to Chopin
  • 1972: Variations sur un thème de Scriabine
  • 1982: Homage to Lech Walesa

Film music (selection)

  • 1932: Poil de carotte
  • 1933: The lady of the castle from Lebanon ( La châtelaine du Liban )
  • 1943: The Second Face ( Flesh and Fantasy )
  • 1944: Since You Went Away ( Since You Went Away )
  • 1945: Paris Underground
  • 1946: Sister Kenny ( Sister Kenny )
  • 1951: The cave of the wicked ( Cave of Outlaws )
  • 1952: Company "Rote Teufel" ( Red Ball Express )

literature

  • Jens Rosteck : Tansman, Alexandre . In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): MGG . tape 16 . Bärenreiter Verlag, 2006, Sp. 491-494 .
  • Andrea Brill : Jewish Identity in the 20th Century. The composers Darius Milhaud and Alexandre Tansman in biographical testimonies and selected works . ars et unitas, Neuried 2002.

Web links

Commons : Alexandre Tansman  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Regulamin Konkursu Biography ( Memento from April 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Tansman, Alexandre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tansman, Aleksander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-French composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Łódź
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1986
Place of death Paris