Tcherepnin Alexander

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 – 1977) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor known for his cosmopolitan style that included influences from France and the Far East. His Father was the composer Nikolai Tcherepnin. Although Tcherepnin's style was Russian at heart, it lacked much of the Romantic melancholy and overt nationalism seen in other Russian-born composers. Instead, his earlier works are characterized by a French leanness and clarity and an emphasis on the clean articulation of form.

Alexander Tcherepnin was a very good composer, and his six piano concertos, licensed from BIS for this Brilliant Classics release, constitute an impressive body of work, full of color, variety, and contrast. The first two are single-movement pieces, while in the third Tcherepnin expands the formal layout to two movements without exceeding the very modest length of his first two concertos. In the Fourth Concerto things get really interesting: it consists of three short tone poems based on Chinese stories and melodies. Now admit it, who can resist a slow movement called “Yan Kuei's Love Sacrifice”?

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 – 1977) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor known for his cosmopolitan style that included influences from France and the Far East. His Father was the composer Nikolai Tcherepnin. Although Tcherepnin's style was Russian at heart, it lacked much of the Romantic melancholy and overt nationalism seen in other Russian-born composers. Instead, his earlier works are characterized by a French leanness and clarity and an emphasis on the clean articulation of form.

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 – 1977) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor known for his cosmopolitan style that included influences from France and the Far East. His Father was the composer Nikolai Tcherepnin. Although Tcherepnin's style was Russian at heart, it lacked much of the Romantic melancholy and overt nationalism seen in other Russian-born composers. Instead, his earlier works are characterized by a French leanness and clarity and an emphasis on the clean articulation of form.

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 – 1977) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor known for his cosmopolitan style that included influences from France and the Far East. His Father was the composer Nikolai Tcherepnin. Although Tcherepnin's style was Russian at heart, it lacked much of the Romantic melancholy and overt nationalism seen in other Russian-born composers. Instead, his earlier works are characterized by a French leanness and clarity and an emphasis on the clean articulation of form.

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899 – 1977) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor known for his cosmopolitan style that included influences from France and the Far East. His Father was the composer Nikolai Tcherepnin. Although Tcherepnin's style was Russian at heart, it lacked much of the Romantic melancholy and overt nationalism seen in other Russian-born composers. Instead, his earlier works are characterized by a French leanness and clarity and an emphasis on the clean articulation of form.

It is frankly surprising that the sonatas, preludes and other cello compositions of Alexander Tcherepnin are not more frequently performed and recorded. I hope you will enjoy his cello music just as I do. It is certainly a discovery for cellists. I am happy that we can celebrate the centennial year of Alexander Tcherepnin’s birth by listening to his music and finding in it so many innovative and fresh ideas.

The Tcherepnin dynasty comprises Nikolai (1873-1945) the father, Alexander (1899-1977), the son and Ivan (1943-1998) and Sergei (b.1941), the sons of Alexander. Alexander grew up amid an affluent and musical family. Their home welcomed the leading artistic lights of Russian society. The 1917 Revolution changed everything for the Tcherepnins and they emigrated to Tbilisi, Georgia. In 1921 they moved to Paris where Alexander’s circle included Martinů and Tansman. Alexander lived in China and Japan between 1934 and 1937. He married the concert pianist Lee Hsien Ming and spent the war years in Paris. In 1948 he emigrated to the USA, living in Chicago and New York. My first encounter with the music of Alexander Tcherepnin came courtesy of …….

Rob Barnett @ musicweb-international.com

Focussing on his early piano works, this second volume of the complete piano music of Russian-born Alexander Tcherepnin shows a mastery of the miniature allied with huge imagination. The Pièces sans titres, Op 7 are richly characterised gems and the Petite Suite, Op 6 teems with resourceful vitality. By the time of Message, Op 39, composed in 1926, and one of his masterpieces, Tcherepnin had developed an arrestingly dramatic approach to rhythm.