Uploaded May 2016 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Here I play Variations on a Theme by Scriabin as a part of my 2016 Undergraduate Senior Recital.
Program Note: Alexandre Tansman was a Polish composer and pianist. He lived during the 20th century and wrote in a neoclassical style, incorporating elements of his Polish heritage in his music. Neoclassical music is highly structured and organized very much like music of the classical era. It also tends to implement an expanded pallet beyond the realm of traditional harmony. Another character of this music is it’s contrapuntal textures, in some ways similar to the music of the Baroque. Though, with expanded harmonies and a major emphasis on rhythm these contrapuntal textures are in many ways distinct from the Baroque. Many of the elements described set this work apart from the other pieces on this program. While Tansman was a pianist, he did in fact write for guitar. He was compelled to write for the instrument after meeting the famous Andres Segovia in Paris in 1921. This piece was inspired by and based on the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s piano piece Prelude op. 16, no. 4. The theme of this piece can be identified as a distinctly Russian melody. In the beginning of Tansman’s piece we are presented with this theme, nearly identical to how it appears in Scriabin’s Prelude. This is the extent to which the two pieces are similar. As the variations unfold, Tansman transforms the theme in a variety of ways. You may hear the theme inverted, transposed, or colored with a unique harmonic background. The piece concludes with a return to the original theme but when we hear it now for the second time, it is not quite the same.
Here I play Variations on a Theme by Scriabin as a part of my 2016 Undergraduate Senior Recital.
Program Note: Alexandre Tansman was a Polish composer and pianist. He lived during the 20th century and wrote in a neoclassical style, incorporating elements of his Polish heritage in his music. Neoclassical music is highly structured and organized very much like music of the classical era. It also tends to implement an expanded pallet beyond the realm of traditional harmony. Another character of this music is it’s contrapuntal textures, in some ways similar to the music of the Baroque. Though, with expanded harmonies and a major emphasis on rhythm these contrapuntal textures are in many ways distinct from the Baroque. Many of the elements described set this work apart from the other pieces on this program. While Tansman was a pianist, he did in fact write for guitar. He was compelled to write for the instrument after meeting the famous Andres Segovia in Paris in 1921. This piece was inspired by and based on the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s piano piece Prelude op. 16, no. 4. The theme of this piece can be identified as a distinctly Russian melody. In the beginning of Tansman’s piece we are presented with this theme, nearly identical to how it appears in Scriabin’s Prelude. This is the extent to which the two pieces are similar. As the variations unfold, Tansman transforms the theme in a variety of ways. You may hear the theme inverted, transposed, or colored with a unique harmonic background. The piece concludes with a return to the original theme but when we hear it now for the second time, it is not quite the same.
