Taneyev's String Quartet No. 1 is written in five movements, forming a symmetrical entity where fast outer movements frame two slow inner movements.
The fourth movement of String Quartet No. 1, an Intermezzo, evokes 'Dark Eyes,' a popular Russian urban romance.
Taneyev's first piano teacher forbade him from playing with his father, an amateur musician, to prevent a detrimental effect on his musical education.
Taneyev believed his only option was to write more music and to write it in the best way he could, keeping his innermost emotions to himself.
Sergey Taneyev, the composer, was a pupil of Nikolay Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, and later became a teacher of Rachmaninov and Scriabin.
The Carpe Diem String Quartet is in residence at the Conservatory of Music at Capital University and champions music by living composers.
