Symphony in E minor (No. 1) / Symphony in D minor (No. 3)

'Long regarded as a dry theorist, Tchaikovsky's friend and avourite pupil has emerged as a master craftsman with a distinctive voice.'
Classic FM Magazine

'Taneyev's credentials as a Romantic symphonist are underlined by the Chandos coupling nof the First and tThird, works of strength, personality and formidable craftsmanship. In terms of musical interest and quality of performance… merits attention.'
The Telegraph

'Valeri Polyansky has already given us a superlative coupling of the Second and Fourth Symphonies or Sergei Taneyev for Chandos [CHAN 9998] and in fact in the Overview (Mar/Apr 2004) I decided he would be the ideal choice to record Taneyev's other two symphonies to my knowledge never offered before on CD…This adds immeasurably to the recorded legacy of Russian music.'
American Record Guide

'The performances are of quality and the notes by Anastasia Belina with copious music-type illustrations, exemplary… a highly interesting and valuable disc.'
BBC Music Magazine

Sergey Taneyev's music, written in the late nineteenth-century romantic tradition, is well-crafted, attractively scored and tuneful.

Polyansky and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra are renowned for their recordings of Russian repertoire and have made many acclaimed recordings for Chandos.

Both symphonies receive their premiere recordings with this release.

Taneyev is better known as a pupil of Tchaikovsky who criticised his master for putting ballet music into a symphony! Soviet musicology has also dwelt more upon the theoretical aspects of the composer's work, not least the influence of his huge study, Strict Counterpoint in the Convertible Style. This has meant that many works which the composer was too self-critical to admit to publication (only the Fourth Symphony was published) were studiously reconstructed, and recently musicologists and collectors have reassessed the legacy of Taneyev's music.

Symphony No.1, in E minor was never even performed in Taneyev's lifetime. Reasonable conjecture suggests that it was one of many tasks set for the 16-year old student by Tchaikovsky. Taneyev's orchestration throughout is melodic and lyrical; the example of Tchaikovsky clearly fired his assistant's imagination. By the time he completed his Third Symphony in 1884, Taneyev had taken Tchaikovsky's place as Professor at the Moscow Conservatory. There is much of Brahms's easy-flowing spirit and natural polyphony, within the work, as well as foreshadowing another Russian symphonist, Glazunov.

Taneyev's compositional style is characterised by its fastidious craftsmanship, the composer's inclination to contrapuntal techniques and his adept handling of large-scale forms. A lone figure in late nineteenth-century Russian music, he was openly contemptuous of contemporary nationalist composers and his work owes little to Russian tradition.

These premiere recordings make a welcome arrival to the Russian music catalogue.