Thomas Sanderling, the conductor on this album, grew up in St Petersburg where his father, Kurt Sanderling, was conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Critical Reception
Tchaikovsky, Taneyev's former teacher and close friend, believed that Taneyev's Second Symphony was a work that benefited from multiple hearings, a characteristic he applied to many of Taneyev's compositions.
Composer Biography
Sergey Taneyev, a Russian composer, wrote four symphonies between 1875 and 1898, but only his last symphony, the Symphony in C minor, was published during his lifetime.
Compositional Technique
Taneyev's Symphony No. 4 features a three-note call based on the tritone (C to F sharp) in its opening, which is a trademark interval in his mature works and reappears throughout the movement.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded at the Studio of West-Siberian Radio, Novosibirsk, Russia, in September 2008, with Pyotr Kondrashin as producer.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Taneyev, known as the 'Russian Brahms', evolved from Tchaikovsky's influence to embrace Western European symphonic traditions in his later works.
Composition History
Taneyev's Symphony No. 2 was never fully completed by the composer; the second movement was only partially scored, and the Scherzo was never written.
