605 - Sergei Taneyev Signed 1912 ‘Seven Poems by J. Polonsky’ Sheet Music Booklet (First Edition)

Sergei Taneyev Signed 1912 ‘Seven Poems by J. Polonsky’ Sheet Music Booklet (First Edition) Russian composer, pianist, music theorist, and influential teacher (1856-1915) who studied composition under Tchaikovsky and later served as director of the Moscow Conservatory. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, Taneyev counted Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Nikolai Medtner, and Reinhold Glière among his pupils, and composed the opera Oresteia as well as symphonies, chamber music, cantatas, and numerous songs. First edition sheet music booklet for Sergei Taneyev’s Seven Poems by J. Polonsky, Op. 34, 43 pages, 10.5 x 13.25, published by the Russian Music Publishing House in 1912. Signed and inscribed by Taneyev on the first free end page to Russian soprano Olga Arkadievna de Hartmann, and signed and dated at Moscow on December 20, 1912. The song cycle, written for voice and piano, sets seven poems by Yakov Polonsky, with German translations by Berthold Feiwel. The decorative wrappers bear parallel Russian and German titles. In very good to fine condition, with light toning and wear to the covers, and some minor staining and soiling. Composed in 1911-1912, Seven Poems by J. Polonsky, Op. 34, was among Taneyev’s final song cycles, setting seven poems by the prominent Russian lyric poet Yakov Polonsky for voice and piano. The cycle continued Taneyev’s concentrated interest in Polonsky’s poetry, following his Five Poems by J. Polonsky, Op. 33, and was published by the Russian Music Publishing House in 1912, just three years before the composer’s death. The recipient, Olga Arkadievna de Hartmann, was a Russian soprano and the wife of composer Thomas de Hartmann, who studied counterpoint with Taneyev and remained his friend until Taneyev’s death in 1915. Taneyev inscribed the score in Moscow on December 20, 1912, the same year the cycle was published.