TANSMAN, Alexandre
b Lodz, 12 June 1897
He studied music at the Lodz Conservatory from 1912 to 1914, and also law and philosophy at Warsaw University. In 1919 he went to Paris and befriended Ravel, Milhaud and Honegger. He made his first tour AS a pianist in 1927 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Koussevitzky, later touring extensively in Europe, Canada and Palestine. He began to conduct his own works, and from 1932 to 1933 travelled to the Far East. During World War II he lived in the USA, writing film music and giving concerts. He was awarded the Coolidge Medal in 1941, and returned to France in 1946.
1916 (19)
Symphony No 1
1922 (25)
Sextuor, ballet
1924 (27)
Sinfonietta
1925 (28)
Symphony No 2
La Nuit Kurde, opera (1925-7)
1926 (29)
Piano Concerto No 1
1927 (30)
Piano Concerto No 2
1928 (31)
Lumieres, ballet
1929 (32)
Le cercle éternel, ballet
1930 (33)
Triptych, for string orchestra
1931 (34)
Symphony No 3, Symphony Concertante (1931-2)
Concertino, for piano
1932 (35)
La Grande Ville, ballet
Two Symphonic Movements
1933 (36)
Partita for string orchestra
1936 (39)
Viola Concerto
Two Intermezzi
1937 (40)
Bric-a-Brac, ballet
Fantasy for violin
Fantasy for cello
1938 (41)
Le toison d'or, opera
Symphony No 4
1942 (45)
Symphony No 5
1943 (46)
Symphony No 6, In Memoriam
Symphonic études
1944 (47)
Symphony No 7
Le roi lui jouait le fou, ballet
Partita for piano and orchestra
1945 (48)
Concertino, for guitar and orchestra
1947 (50)
Isaiah the Prophet, for tenor, chorus and orchestra
Music for orchestra
1948 (51)
Music for strings
1949 (52)
Ricercari, for orchestra
Tombeau de Chopin, for strings
1950 (53)
Phedre, ballet
1951 (54)
Symphony No 8
1955 (58)
Le Sermant, opera
Capriccio, for orchestra
Concerto for orchestra
1961 (64)
Psalms, for tenor, chorus and orchestra
1962 (65)
Resurrection, for orchestra
Six Symphonic Studies for orchestra
1963 (66)
Six Movements for string orchestra
1964 (67)
Il usignolo di Boboli, opera
1966 (69)
Concertino, for oboe and chamber orchestra
1968 (71)
Four Movements for orchestra
1969 (72)
Concertino, for flute and chamber orchestra
Hommage a Erasme de Rotherdam, for orchestra
Diptyque, for orchestra
Hommage a Chopin, for guitar
1972 (75)
Stele (in memoriam Stravinsky), for voice and instruments
Variations on a theme of Skriabin, for guitar
1974 (77)
Georges Dandin, comic opera
1976 (79)
Elegie in memory of Darius Milhaud, for orchestra
1977 (80)
Musique a six, for clarinet, string quartet and piano
Tansman has also written many songs, chamber and piano works, and incidental music for theatre, cinema and radio.