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Composer and pianist, born in Łódź, died in Paris. Having studied piano with Wojciech Gawroński at the Łódź Conservatory in 1908-14, Tansman went on to study law at Warsaw University in 1915 and graduated in 1918. Meanwhile he took lessons of counterpoint from Piotr Rytel and of composition from Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński. In 1919 Tansman took part in a composition contest of the Polish Artistic Club in Warsaw, and achieved his first great success by winning three of the awards: the no. 1 award for Romance for violin and piano, an award for Impression for piano, and a prize for Prelude in B major for piano, all composed in 1918-19. Despite such evidence of recognition of Tansman’s works, he was hardly a favorite of music critics.
The same year Tansman decided to leave Poland for Paris. His debut there was a solo recital of his own compositions played on 17th February 1920. While in Paris, Tansman met many music celebrities, including Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, Artur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Andres Segovia and Igor Stravinsky. Meanwhile he was made an honorary member of the Association of Young Polish Musicians. As a pianist and composer, Tansman travelled extensively with concerts across Europe, the United States, South America and the Far East. In 1927 and then again in 1929 he went on a concert tour across the United States and made the acquaintance of Charlie Chaplin and George Gershwin. Tansman’s works got to be performed by the best orchestras, such as The Boston Symphony Orchestra directed by Sergey Kusevickiy, The Philharmonic Symphony Society Of New York directed by Arturo Toscanini, and The Philadelphia Orchestra directed by Leopold Stokowski. In 1932-3 concerts took Tansman on a round-the-world tour from America through the Hawaii, Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaya, Ceylon, India, Egypt, Israel to Greece. While in Japan, Tansman was awarded the Jiji-Shimpo Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution to world art, and was made an honorary member of the Society of the Royal Academy of Music in Tokyo. In India Tansman had the honour of being a guest of Mahatma Gandhi’s. In 1933, in recognition of Tansman’s trip, the Marco Polo Club made him its honorary member. In addition to playing concerts, Tansman would often sit on juries in composing and performing competitions in the 1930s, such as the Paris Conservatoire Piano Competition in 1936 and the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in Brussels in 1937.
Tansman was made a French citizen in 1938. Following the outbreak of World War II, he was helped by Charlie Chaplin to emigrate to the United States, settling in Los Angeles in 1941. There he focused chiefly on composing film music. He was friends with other composers, notably Darius Milhaud, Bela Bartok, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. His friendship with Stravinsky led him to writing Stravinsky’s biography, published in Paris in 1948. It was not until 1946 that Tansman, now a recognized and established composer, returned to Paris. His music sounded in the concert halls of France as well as of Brussels, Geneva, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm and other European capital cities. After the war Tansman took to composing “applied” music for the stage and radio theatre.
After his wife Colette Cras-Tansman died in 1952, Tansman became the sole custodian of their daughters, Mireille and Marianne, and family duties made him give up some of his concert tours, such as those to the United States and South America. In later years Tansman was made a member of the Belgian Academie Royale (1977), received the Badge of Contribution to the Polish Culture from Poland’s Minister of Culture and Art (1983) and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Arts and Sciences from the Minister of Culture of the French Republic. In 1983, at the motion of Tadeusz Kaczyński, the Polish Composers’ Union made Tansman its honorary member, and the Łódź Academy of Music awarded him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.
Tansman was buried at the Saint-Monde cemetery in Paris.
Source: www.culture.pl, Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, Polish Composers’ Union, June 2002.
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2 Mouvements for cello quartet, 1935 Buy 2 Pieces for cello and piano, 1931 Buy 3 Fugues for piano four-hands Buy 3 Pieces for clarinet, harp and string quartet, 1970 Borrow 5 Pieces for violin and piano or small orchestra, 1930 Buy Alla polacca for viola and piano, 1985 Buy Carnival suite for two pianos Borrow Carnival suite for 2 pianos or brass orchestra, 1942 excerpt from "Flesh and Fantasy"; first instrumentation for orchestra (1941 / 1942) Chanson Berrichonne for oboe, two violins, viola and piano 1946 manuscript Borrow Divertimento for oboe, clarinet, trumpet, cello and piano, 1944 Buy Fantasy na skrzypce i fortepian, 1961 Buy Fantasy for cello and piano, 1931 Buy Fantaisie sur des valses de Strauss for two pianos, 1961 Borrow String quartet No.1, 1917 String quartet No.2, 1922 Buy La Grande Ville for two pianos, 1935 ballet music, second instrumentation for orchestra Buy Le Train de Nuit for two pianos, 1951 ballet music Borrow Little suite No.2 from the movie "Flesh and Fantasy" for quartet or string orchestra, 1943 Borrow Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano, 1917 - 1919 Buy Sonata No. 2 for cello and piano, 1930 Buy String quartet No. 3, 1925 Buy String quartet No. 4, 1935 Buy Introduction et Fugue for two pianos, 1938 Buy La danse de la sorcière for wind quintet and piano or for 2 pianos, 1923 - 1924 excerpt from planned but not composed ballet Le jardin du paradis; first instrumentation for orchestra (composing date unknown) Buy Miniatures pour trio de cuivre, 1976 Buy Musica a cinque for string quartet and piano, 1955 Buy Musique pour clarinette et quatuor à cordes, 1982 Buy Musique à six for clarinet, string quartet and piano, 1977 Buy Partita for cello and piano, 1955 - 1956 Buy Prélude et quatre petites fugues for piano four-hands, 1936 Buy Romance for violin and piano, 1918 Borrow Sextuor, 1940 Buy Serenade for violin, cello and piano, 1928 Borrow Serenade No. 2 for violin, viola and cello, 1937 Buy Serenade No.3 for 2 pianos, 1943 second instrumentation for orchestra Buy Sonata for 2 pianos, 1941 Buy Sonata for 2 violins, 1950 Buy Sonata quasi una fantasia for violin and piano, 1924 Borrow Sonatina da camera for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp 1952 Buy Sonatine for bassoon and piano, 1952 Buy Sonatine for flute and piano or violin and piano, 1925 Buy Sonatine No.2 for violin and piano, 1942 Buy Sonatine transatlantique for 2 pianos, 1930 Borrow Suite for bassoon and piano, 1960 Buy Suite for violin and piano, 1943 Buy Suite in modo polonico for guitar and harp, 1976 Opis: wersja oryginalna na gitarę (1962) Buy Suite pour 3 flûtes à bec, 1956 Borrow Suite pour trio d’anches, 1949 Buy Suite-Divertissement for violin, viola, cello and piano, 1929 Buy Tombeau de Chopin for string quintet, 1949 Borrow Trio for violin, viola and cello, 1946 Buy Trio for piano, violin and cello, 1938 Buy Triptyque for string quartet or string orchestra, 1930 Buy String quartet No. 5, 1940 Buy String quartet No. 6, 1944 Buy String quartet No. 7 „Musique à cordes”, 1947 – 1948 Buy String quartet No. 8, 1956 Buy
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11 Interludes, 1955 Buy 20 Pièces faciles sur des mélodies populaires polonaises, 1917 - 1924 Buy 3 Préludes en forme de blues, 1937 Buy 3 Études transcendantes, 1922 Buy 4 Danses miniatures, 1923 Borrow 4 Danses polonaises, 1931 Opis: wersja oryginalna: na orkiestrę (1931) Buy 4 Impressions, 1950 Borrow 4 Nocturnes, 1952 Buy 4 Piano Moods, 1944 Borrow 5 Impressions, 1934 Buy 5 Impromptus, 1922-1925 Buy 6 Caprices, 1943 Buy 6 Études de virtuositè, 1941 Buy 7 Preludes, 1921 No. 4-7 Buy 7 Preludes, 1921 No. 1-3 Buy 8 Cantilenes. Hommage to J. S. Bach, 1949 manuscript Borrow 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 5 Obertas Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 3 Etude Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 3 Exotique Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 4 Dance Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 6 Blues Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 7 Prelude Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 8 Imporovisation Buy 8 Novelettes, 1936 No. 1 Caprice Buy Album d’amis, 1980 Buy Arabesques, 1930 Buy Ballade No. 1, 1941 Buy Ballade No. 12, 1941 Buy Ballade No. 3, 1941 Buy Berceuse, 1929 Buy Burlesque, 1929 Buy Canzone orientale, 1941 Etude, 1967 Buy Etude-scherzo, 1922 Buy Hommage à Arthur Rubinstein, 1973 Buy Sonata No. 2, 1929 Buy Sonata No. 3, 1932 Buy Sonatina No. 3, 1933 Buy Sonata No. 4, 1941 Buy Sonata No. 4, 1941 In the Contemporary Piano Literature, 1955 Intermezzi, 1939 – 1940 vol. 3 Buy Intermezzi, 1939 – 1940 vol. 2 Buy Intermezzi, 1939 – 1940 vol. 4 Buy Intermezzi, 1939 – 1940 vol. 1 Buy Le Géant, 1937 Borrow Le tour du monde en miniature. 15 feuillets de voyage, 1933 Buy Mazurkas [I], 1941 Mazurkas [I], 1943 Buy Mazurkas, 1915 – 1941 vol. 4 Buy Mazurkas, 1915 – 1941 vol. 3 Buy Mazurkas, 1915 – 1941 vol. 2 Buy Mazurkas, 1915 – 1941 vol. 1 Buy Moment musical, 1941 Petite suite, 1917 – 1919 Buy Piano Miniatures, 1945 Prelude and Toccata, 1943 Buy Rhapsodie hébraïque, 1933 original version for orchestra (1933) Buy Rhapsodie polonaise, 1940 Buy Sonata rustica, 1925 Buy Sonatina, 1923 Buy Sonatine transatlantique, 1939 Buy Suite dans le style ancien, 1929 second version for orchestra Buy Suite varié, 1953 Buy Tempo americano, 1931 transcription of 2nd movement of Symphony No.3 Concertante by Tansman Buy Sonata No. 5, 1955 Buy Valse Impromptu, 1940 Buy Variations on a Frescobaldi's theme Borrow Piano Concerto No. 1 Buy