Tansman, Alexandre [Aleksander](b d, 12 June 1897; d Paris, 15
Nov 1986). French composer and pianist of Polish birth. Following
studies at the d Conservatory (190814) with Wojciech Gawronski and
others, he moved to Warsaw where he completed the doctorate in law
at the University of Warsaw (1918). He continued his piano studies
with Piotr Rytel and took composition lessons with Henryk
Melcer-Szczawiski. Although he won three prizes in the Polish
National Music Competition of 1919 (for Impression, Preludium in B
Major and Romance), critics considered his distinctive chromaticism
and polytonality too bold. Disappointed with his reception in
Poland, he moved to Paris, giving a dbut recital in February 1920.
Soon after his arrival, he became friendly with Stravinsky and
Ravel, both of whom encouraged and advised him. Stravinsky's
repetitive, rhythmic patterns and Ravel's chords of the 11th and
13th influenced much of his inter-war music. Acquainted with many
leading musical figures in Paris during these years, Tansman was
part of the circle of foreign musicians, known as the Ecole de
Paris, that included Martin, Alexander Tcherepnin, Conrad Beck and
Marcel Mihalovici. While his music retained many distinctively
Polish features, such as Mazurka rhythms and Polish folk melodies,
and while he wrote collections of Polonaises, Nocturnes,
Impromptus, Waltzes and other Chopinesque miniatures, neo-classical
traits appear in works such as the Sonata rustica (1925), the
Sonatine for flute and piano (1925), the Symphony no.2 (1926) and
the Second Piano Concerto (1927). A more romantic approach to
neo-classicism is evident in his fairy tale ballet Le jardin du
paradis (1922) and the first of his seven operas, La nuit kurde
(1927). Although he never completely abandoned a diatonic
framework, critics of the 1920s and 30s described his harmony at
times as Scriabinesque and atonal. His Hebraic background provided
compositional stimulus for works including Rapsodie hbraque (1933)
and The Genesis (1944), although this influence became more
prominent in his postwar music.Tansman was quick to achieve
international success. Vladimir Golschmann was an early champion of
his music, conducting the orchestral Impressions in 1921;
Koussevitzky conducted Scherzo sinfonico in 1923 and both piano
concertos in Paris and Boston with the composer as soloist.
Thereafter Tansman's music was performed under Toscanini,
Mengelberg, Stokowski, Monteux, Wood and Boult. During his first
American tour as a pianist with Koussevitzky and the Boston SO in
1927, Tansman became acquainted with Gershwin. Later, he toured
extensively in Europe, Asia, Palestine and India, where he was a
guest of Mahatma Gandhi in 1933. Although awarded French
nationality in 1938, he and his family were soon forced to flee
France. He settled in Los Angeles in 1941 where he became
acquainted with Schoenberg, renewed friendships with other European
migrs, including Milhaud and Stravinsky, and composed a number of
film scores. He returned to Paris in 1946. In addition to his many
compositions, he completed a monograph on Stravinsky (Paris, 1948).
His honours included the Coolidge Medal (1941), election to the
Acadmie Royale of Belgium (1977) and the Polish Medal of Cultural
Merit (1983).WORKS(selective list)stageOps: La nuit kurde (3, prol,
after J.R. Bloch), 1927, French radio, 1927; La toison d'or (ob, 3,
4 tableaux, after S. de Madariaga), 1938, Paris, 13 April 1947; Le
roi qui jouait le fou (2 parts, 13 tableaux, R. Laporte), 1948; Le
serment (2 tableaux, D. Vincent, after H. de Balzac), 1953, Paris,
1954; Sabbata Zvi, le faux messie (4, prol, N. Bistritzky), 19578,
Paris, 3 March 1961; L'usignolo di Boboli (1, 3 tableaux, M.
Labroca), 1963, Nice, 21 July 1965; Georges Dandin (3, after
Molire), 19734, Sarlat-la-Canda, 25 July 1974
Ballets: Le jardin du paradis (4 tableaux, after H.C. Andersen),
1922 [arr. as Danse de la sorcire, wind qnt, pf, 1923]; Sextuor (1,
after A. Arnoux, choreog. O. Preobrazenska), 1923; Lumires (4
scnes), 1927; Le cercle ternel (2 tableaux, choreog. J. Borlin),
1929; Bric brac (3 tableaux, after Arnoux, choreog. W. Ignatow),
1935; La grande ville (3 tableaux, choreog. K. Jooss), 2 pf, 1935,
orchd 1944; He, She and I, 1946; Le train de nuit (Jooss), 2 pf,
1951; Les habits neufs du roi (1, after Andersen), 19589;
Rsurrection (4 tableaux, P. Mdecis, choreog. F. Adret, after L.
Tolstoy), 19612
orchestral9 syms: no.1, 1917; no.2, a, 1926; no.3 Symphonie
concertante, pf qt, orch, 1931; no.4, 1939, no.5, D, 1942; no.6 In
memoriam (Tansman), SATB, orch, 1944; no.7 Lyrique, 1944; no.8
Musique pour orchestre, 1948; no.9, 19578
Other orch: Impressions, 1920; Int sinfonico, 1920; Lgende,
1923; 2 Scherzo sinfonico, 1923; Sinfonietta no.1, chbr orch, 1924;
Pf Conc. no.1, 1925; Ouverture symphonique, 1926; Pf Conc. no.2,
1927; Suite, 2 pf, orch, 1928; Suite dans le style ancien, 1929; 5
pices, vn, orch, 1930; Sonatine transatlantique, 1930; Concertino,
pf, orch, 1931; 4 danses polonaises, 1931; 2 moments symphoniques,
1932; Rapsodie hbraque, 1933; 2 intermezzi, 1934; 2 pices, 1934; 2
images de la bible, 1935; Fantaisie, vc, orch, 1936; Va Conc.,
19367; Fantaisie, pf, orch, 1937; Suite no.1, chbr orch, 1937;
Variations sur un thme de Frescobaldi, 1937
Vn Conc., 1937; Etudes symphoniques, 194042; Rapsodie polonaise,
1940; Ricercari, 19419; Carnival Suite, 1942; Srnade no.3, 1943;
Divertimento, 1944; Lied et toccata, 1944; Partita no.2, pf, orch,
1944; Short Suite, 1944; Concertino, gui, orch, 1945; Le cantique
des cantiques, chbr orch, 1946; Introduction et danse gitane, 1946;
Suite no.2, chbr orch, 1948; Musique de table, 1949; Suite dans le
got espagnol, 1949; Tombeau de Chopin, str orch, 1949 [arr. str
qnt, 1949]; Sinfonia piccola, 19512; Concertino, ob, cl, orch,
1952; Capriccio, 1954; Conc. for Orch, 1954; Hommage Manuel de
Falla, gui, chbr orch, 1954; Suite lgre, 1955; 4 mouvements
symphoniques, 1956;
Cl Conc., 1957; Album d'Isral, chbr orch, 1958; Suite baroque,
chbr orch, 1958; Chbr Sym., 1960; La lutte de Jacob avec l'ange,
1960 [after P. Gauguin]; Musique de cour, gui, chbr orch, 1960; 6
tudes, 1962; 6 mouvements, str orch, 19623; Vc Conc., 1963; Suite
concertante, ob, orch, 1966; 4 mouvements, 19678; Concertino, fl,
orch, 1968; Hommage Erasme de Rotterdam, 19689; Diptyque, 1969;
Stle in memoriam Igor Stravinsky, 1972; Elgie la mmoire de Darius
Milhaud, 1975; Les dix Commandements, 19789; Sinfonietta no.2, chbr
orch, 1978; Musique, hp, str orch, 1981
vocal8 mlodies japonaises, 1v, orch, 1918; 6 Songs (N. de
Bragana), 1v, orch, 1934; The Genesis (collab. A. Schoenberg, D.
Milhaud, I. Stravinsky, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, E. Toch, N.
Shilkret, Bible: Genesis), nar, orch, 1944; Sym. no.6 In Memoriam
(Tansman), SATB, orch, 1944; Ponctuation franaise (C. Oulmont), 1v,
orch, 1946; Isae le prophte (orat, Tansman, Bible), SATB, orch,
1950; 6 Sonnets (W. Shakespeare), 1v, chbr orch, 1955; Prologue et
cantate (Bible: Ecclesiastes), female chorus, orch, 1957; Psaumes
(Pss cxviii, cxix, cxx), T, SATB, orch, 196061; Apostrophe Zion
(cant., ancient text), SATB, orch, 19767; 8 stles de Victor Segalen
(V. Segalen), 1v, chbr orch, 1979; many songs, choral works and
vocal music for children
chamber and solo instrumental8 str qts: 1917, 1922, 1925, 1935,
1940, 1944, 1947, 1956
Pf Trio [no.1], 1915; Sonata [no.1], vn, pf, 1916; Romance, vn,
pf, 1918; Sonata [no.1], vc, pf, 1918; Sonata [no.2], vn, pf, 1919;
3 esquisses, str qt, pf, 1922; Sonata [no.3], vn, pf, 1924;
Sonatine, fl, pf, 1925; Sonatine, vn, pf, 1925; Pf Trio [no.2],
1928; Suite-divertissement, pf qt, 1929; Sonata [no.2], vc, pf,
1930; Septet, fl, ob, cl, bn, tpt, va, vc, 1932; 2 mouvements, 4
vc, 1935; Str Trio [no.1], 1937; Str Trio [no.2], 1938; Str Sextet,
1940; Suite, vn, pf, 1943; Divertimento, ob, cl, tpt, vc, pf, 1944;
Fugue, str qnt, 1945; Wind Octet [no.1], 1945; Str Trio [no.3],
1946; Wind Octet [no.2], 1947; Wind Trio, 1949; Cavatine, gui,
1950; Sonata, 2 vn, 1950; Sonatina da camera, fl, vn, va, vc, hp,
1952; Sonatine, bn, pf, 1952; Partita, vc, pf, 1955; Musique 5, str
qnt, 1955; Suite, bn, pf 1960; Fantaisie, vn, pf, 1963; Hommage
Chopin, gui, 1966; Studio ostinato, 6 perc, 1970; Variations sur un
thme de Scriabine, gui, 1972; Miniatures, hn, tpt, trbn, 1976;
Suite in modo polonico, hp, pf, 1976; Musique six, cl, str qt, pf,
1977; Hommage Lech Walesa, gui, 1982; Musique, cl, str qt, 1982
pianosolo pf, unless otherwise statedSonata no.1, 1915; Album
polski, 1916; Impression, 1918; Preludium in B major, 1918; 3 tudes
transcendantes, 1922; Sonatine, 1923; Sonata rustica, 1925; Sonata
no.2, 1928; Sonatine transatlantique, 2 pf, 1930; Sonata no.3,
1932; Le tour du monde en miniature, 1933; Rapsodie hbraque, 1933;
3 prludes en forme de blues, 1937; Rapsodie polonaise, 2 pf, 1940;
Sonata, 2 pf, 1941; Sonata no.4, 1941; Sonata no.5, 1955; Visit to
Isral, 1958; Fantaisie sur des valses de Johann Strauss, 2 pf,
1961; Hommage Artur Rubinstein, 1973; Album d'amis, 1980; many
other solo pf works, incl. collections of Etudes, Preludes,
Impromptus, Mazurkas, Nocturnes, Ballades, etc
MSS in Association des amis d'Alexandre Tansman, Paris
Principal publishers: Billaudot, Editions Franaises de Musique,
Eschig, Ricordi, Technisonor, Universal
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Carpentier: Alexandre Tansman y su obra luminosa,
Social, xiv/9 (1929); repr. in Obras completas de Alejo Carpentier,
ix (Mexico City, 1986), 1938 R. Petit: Alexandre Tansman, ReM, x/45
(1929) 4654 I. Schwerk: Alexandre Tansman, compositeur polonais
(Paris, 1931) C. Otero: Alexandre Tansman su vida y su obra para
guitara (Mexico, 1993) A. Granat-Janki: Forma w twrczoci
instrumentalnej Aleksandra Tansmana [Form in the instrumental works
of Alexandre Tansman] (Wrocaw, 1995) G. Hugon: Alexandre Tansman,
catalogue de loeuvre (Paris, 1995) J. Cegiella: Dziecko Szczcia
Aleksander Tansman i jego czasy [Child of fortune: Alexandre
Tansman and his life and times] i, ii (d, 1996) CAROLINE RAE
