Benjamin Frankel

Benjamin Frankel (31 January 1906 – 12 February 1973) was a British composer. Frankel's most famous pieces include a cycle of five string quartets and eight symphonies as well as a number of concertos for violin and viola; his single best-known piece is probably the First Sonata for Solo Violin, which, like his concertos, resulted from a long association with Max Rostal. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition that retained contact with tonality.

Biography

Frankel was born in London on 31 January 1906, the son of Polish-Jewish parents. He started learning the violin at an early age, showing remarkable talent; at age 14, his piano-playing gifts attracted the attention of Victor Benham, who persuaded his parents to let him study music full-time. He spent a few weeks in Germany in 1922, but quickly returned to London, where he won a scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and attempted his first serious compositions while earning his income as a jazz violinist, pianist and arranger.

By the early 1930s, Frankel was in high demand as an arranger and musical director in London; he gave up theatre work in 1944, though, even though he retained an interest in movie composing until his death, writing over 100 scores. Frankel also became widely-known as a serious composer after World War II; his first work to gain fame was the violin concerto dedicated "in memory of 'the six million'", a reference to the Jews murdered during the Holocaust, commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain and first performed by Max Rostal. From 1941 till 1952 he was a member of the British Communist Party, but resigned his membership in protest at the Prague show-trials.

Frankel died in London on 12 February 1973 while working on the three-act opera Marching Song and a ninth symphony, which had been commissioned by the BBC. When he died, Marching Song had been completed in short score; it was orchestrated by Buxton Orr, a composer who had studied with Frankel and whose advocacy has been at least partly responsible for the revival of interest in his works.

Posthumous reputation

In the twenty years following his death, Frankel's works were almost completely neglected. In 1996, BBC Radio 3 featured him as the Composer of the Week, allowing many people a first opportunity to hear his music (they did so again in 2006). A major turning point, however, came when a German record company CPO (Classic Produktion Osnabrück, since bought by JPC) decided to record his entire output with the help of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This has allowed, for the first time, an appraisal of his output. The conductor was Werner Andreas Albert.

A selection of works

Symphonies

• Symphony No. 1 — Op. 33, three movements, 1958 (first twelve-tone work?)
• Symphony No. 2 — Op. 38, three movements, 1962
• Symphony No. 3 — Op. 40, one movement, 1964
• Symphony No. 4 — Op. 44, three movements, 1966
• Symphony No. 5 — Op. 46, three movements, 1967
• Symphony No. 6 — Op. 49, five movements, 1969
• Symphony No. 7 — Op. 50, four movements, 1970
• Symphony No. 8 — Op. 53, four movements, 1971

Concertos

• Violin concerto To the memory of the six million, Op. 24, four movements, 1951
• Serenata Concertante for piano trio and orchestra, one movement (in parts), Op. 37, 1960
• Viola concerto, Op. 45, three movements, 1967

Other orchestral and small-orchestra works (selected)

• Three sketches for strings (originally for quartet), Op. 2, 1920s?
• Solemn Speech and Discussion, Op. 11
• Youth Music, four pieces for small orchestra, Op. 12
• May Day (overture), Op. 22, 1948
• Mephistopheles Serenade and Dance, Op. 25, 1952
• Shakespeare Overture, Op. 29
• Overture to a Ceremony, Op. 51

Selected chamber works

• Three piano studies, Op. 1, 1926
• String trio no. 1, Op. 3
• Sonata for viola solo, Op. 7 (early 1930s)
• Trio for clarinet, cello and piano, Op. 10, three movements, 1940
• Violin solo sonata No. 1, Op. 13 (before 1943)
• String quartet No. 1, Op. 14, four movements, around 1944–5
• String quartet No. 2, Op. 15, five movements, 1944
• String quartet No. 3, Op. 18, five movements, around 1947
• Early Morning Music, trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, three movements, 1948
• String quartet No. 4, Op. 21, four movements, around 1949?
• Quartet for piano and strings, Op. 26, three movements ((c) 1962 but written sometime in the 1950s?)
• Quintet for clarinet and strings, Op. 28, three movements, 1956
• Inventions in Major/Minor modes, cello and piano, Op. 31
• String trio No. 2, Op. 34, three movements, (c) 1960 (?)
• Cinque Pezzi Notturni for eleven instruments, Op. 35, five pieces, 1959
• Violin solo sonata No. 2, Op. 39, three movements, 1962
• Pezzi pianissimi for clarinet cello and piano, Op. 41, four pieces, 1964
• String quartet No. 5, Op. 43, five movements, 1965

Vocal works

• The Aftermath, Op. 17
• Eight songs, Op. 32, 1959

Film scores

• Radio Parade of 1935, 1935
• Flight from Folly, 1945
• The Seventh Veil, 1945
  • his contribution to the sound track was overshadowed by classical piano works - parts of the Grieg Concerto and the Rachmaninoff 2nd Concerto, and solo pieces by Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin
• Dear Murderer, 1947
• Daybreak, 1948
• London Belongs to Me, 1948
• Trottie True, 1948
• Give Us This Day, 1949
• So Long at the Fair, 1950
  • The light concert piece "Carriage and Pair" is based on the soundtrack of this film.
• Night and the City, 1950 UK version
• The Clouded Yellow, 1951
• The Man in the White Suit, 1951
• Appointment with Venus, 1951
• The Importance of Being Earnest, 1952
• The Net, 1953
• The Young Lovers, 1954
• A Kid for Two Farthings, 1955
• The End of the Affair, 1955
• The Curse of the Werewolf, 1960
• The Night of the Iguana, 1964
• Battle of the Bulge, 1965

The symphonies, concerti, quartets, and a few other works have been among the works recorded so far by cpo, as well as some film scores (a few works were available on LP, and the clarinet quintet has a CD alternative.)

External links

• British Music Society Lecture-Recital Has authorized sound samples
• The Benjamin Frankel Society
• British Library Frankel Exhibition Online exhibition on Benjamin Frankel to mark his centenary
• Official Benjamin Frankel Site sponsored by his estate