SERGEI TANEYEV (1856-1915): Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Symphony No. 3 in D Minor.

Description: For as long as I've been collecting (35 years), this has been one of the holy grails. "What about the Taneyev One and Three?" Why were these two symphonies never recorded? Still no answer to that question, which I asked back in the 90s while I was running Russian Disc. But, here they finally are (and 8 fast movements too, for those of you who would avoid deep-thinking adagios!), thanks in large part to Soviet musicologists who, trading on the composer's much-later gained reputation as the "Russian Bach" for his later contrapuntal disposition, edited and published these two symphonies: Pavel Lamm (No. 1 in 1948) and Boris Yavorsky (No. 3 in 1947). No. 1 is the work of a 16-year-old and was never performed until who-knows-when (the 70s?). Clunky, gawky, not to be confused with the incredibly polished first symphony of the 17-year-old Glazunov, collectors will still need to have it. The Third (1884) was completed when Taneyev was already Professor at the Moscow Conservatory and will fit in well with what you know of Taneyev the symphonist from the Second and Fourth symphonies. Remember - Taneyev consented to the publication only of No. 4. Russian State Symphony Orchestra; Valeri Polyansky.