133 Leo Smit (1900–1943): Suite pour Piano (1926) I. Prélude II. Forlane III. Rondeau A beloved figure in Amsterdam and Paris, Smit was a cosmopolitan composer, deeply influenced by Ravel, the Parisian "Les Six", and Stravinsky. He was murdered along with his wife in the Sobibor extermination camp on 30 April 1943. This Suite is a masterpiece of Dutch Neoclassicism. It is elegant, transparent, and witty ("French" in character). The music is sunny and optimistic, characterized by clear melodic lines and sophisticated harmonies. The brightness of this music stands in devastating contrast to the composer's fate. Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986): Piano Sonata No. 2 (Dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein) I. Allegro risoluto II. Largo III. Scherzo IV. Finale (Mazur) – Moderato A Polish-born Jew who became a leading figure in the Paris music scene ("The School of Paris"). He studied first with Wojciech Gawroński and later with Paderewski, Melcer-Szczawiński, and Birnbaum, but as he advanced further and further into his musical life, he began to draw influence from Dukas, Roussel, Stravinsky, Bartók, Schoenberg, and, perhaps most centrally, Ravel. He invested considerable efforts in creating a new classical style. It meant a broader concept of being a modern classicist rather than sticking to neoclassical current or any other exclusive system. Tansman was forced to flee Europe in 1940, escaping to Hollywood with the help of Charlie Chaplin. There, he joined a close-knit group of European émigré artists and intellectuals, which included novelist Thomas Mann, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and others. The Piano Sonata No. 2 is dedicated to his close friend, the legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein. This is a transatlantic work. It fuses the rhythms of the Polish Mazurka in the 4th movement (a nod to his and Rubinstein's shared homeland) with Parisian sophistication and American jazz harmonies and syncopation. It is a work of exile—grand, virtuosic, and tinged with the nostalgia of a man who has lost his home but not his dignity. Jewish Composers
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