Grigory Frid


Grigory Samuilovich Frid, also known as Grigori Fried, was a Russian composer of music written in many different genres, including chamber opera.

Early life and education

Born in Petrograd, now St. Petersburg, Frid studied in the Moscow Conservatory with Heinrich Litinsky and Vissarion Shebalin. He was a soldier in the Second World War.

Career

Frid was a prolific composer. His most notable works are his two chamber operas, both to his own libretti. The Diary of Anne Frank is a monodrama in 21 scenes for soprano and chamber orchestra, lasting about one hour. It was composed in 1968 and given a first performance with piano accompaniment at the All-Union House of Composers in Moscow on either 17 or 18 May 1972. The Letters of Van Gogh is a mono-opera in two parts for baritone and chamber ensemble, based on the letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo. The opera was composed in 1975 and given its premiere in concert form at the same venue, on 29 November 1976.
He wrote three symphonies, a series of instrumental concertos including a Concerto for viola, piano and string orchestra, music for theatre and cinema including stage music for Phèdre by Jean Racine, vocal and chamber music including a cycle Poetry for voice and chamber ensemble to poems by Federico García Lorca, a Piano Quintet, a Fantasia for cello and piano, Fedra - a piano quintet with solo viola, and Five Songs to poems by Luís de Camões.
The style of Frid's early music may be explained as conventional, written in the tradition of so-called "Socialist realism". At the age of 55 he changed his style radically, turning to the twelve-tone and other more contemporary techniques of music composition. Frid was known as having been a music propagandist and organiser of a series of lectures-concerts for young people at the "Moscow House of Composers" that were popular in the 1970s. He was also a visual artist, having had a series of exhibitions of his paintings. Frid authored a few volumes of recollections, two of which first were published in Moscow in 1987 and 1991.
In 1986 Grigory Frid received the title of Honoured Art Worker.

Selected works

;Stage
  • The Diary of Anne Frank, Monologue-Opera in 2 acts for soprano and chamber orchestra, Op. 60 ; version II for soprano and chamber ensemble; libretto by the composer
  • Van Gogh's Letters, Monologue-Opera in 2 acts for baritone and chamber ensemble, Op. 69 ; libretto by the composer based on letters from Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo
;Orchestral
  • Overture No. 1
  • Symphony No. 1
  • Piece
  • Northern Lights, Suite
  • 3 Marches
  • Nature's Calendar after Mikhail Prishvin ; also a version for violin and piano
  • Overture No. 2
  • All Year Round after Samuil Marshak ; also for piano
  • Sinfonietta
  • Merry Suite
  • Symphony No. 2 "Lyric"
  • Rhapsody on Slovak and Moravian Themes
  • Festive Overture
  • On the Shores of Cheptsa, Poem in Memory of Vladimir Korolenko
  • Заре навстречу
  • Overture No. 3
  • 2 Inventions for string orchestra, Op. 46a ; original for piano
  • Symphony No. 3 for string orchestra and timpani, Op. 50
  • Overture, Op. 56
;Concertante
  • Fantasia Concertante for violin and orchestra
  • Concerto for viola and chamber orchestra, Op. 52
  • Concerto for trombone and orchestra
  • Concerto for viola, piano and string orchestra, Op. 73
  • Romance for cello, piano and chamber ensemble ; also for solo cello, 4 cellos and piano; music from the film Lenin in Paris
;Chamber music
  • Prelude and Fugue for string quartet
  • String Quartet No. 1
  • Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano
  • String Quartet No. 2
  • Nature's Calendar, Cycle of 10 pieces after Mikhail Prishvin for violin and piano ; original for orchestra
  • Sonatina for oboe and piano
  • String Quartet No. 3
  • Sonata No. 1 for cello and piano
  • Aria for cello and piano
  • Sonatina for flute and piano
  • Sonata No. 2 for cello and piano
  • String Quartet No. 4
  • Aria and Intermezzo for cello and piano
  • Concert Fantasy on Themes of Three Folk Songs of Western Ukraine for trumpet and piano
  • 8 Pieces for cello and piano
  • Romance for flute and piano
  • Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano
  • Sonata No. 1 for clarinet and piano
  • Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano
  • Divertimento for violin and piano
  • Sonata for oboe and piano
  • Sonata No. 2 for clarinet and piano
  • Sonata for viola and piano, Op. 62 No. 1
  • 6 Pieces for string quartet, Op. 64
  • Sonata for 3 clarinets
  • String Quartet No. 5
  • Piano Quintet, Op. 72
  • Romance for solo cello, 4 cellos and piano ; also for cello, piano and chamber ensemble; music from the film Lenin in Paris
  • Fantasia for cello and piano
  • Sonata No. 3 for clarinet and piano
  • Phèdre for viola solo, 2 violins, cello and piano, Op. 78
  • Sonata No. 2 for viola and piano ; second version of Phèdre
;Piano
  • Toccata
  • Variations
  • All Year Round, 12 Pieces after Samuil Marshak ; also for orchestra
  • Children's Album
  • Inventions, Op. 46 ; also for orchestra
  • Hungarian Album, 14 Pieces
  • Sonatina
  • Sonata No. 1
  • Sonata No. 2
  • Sonata for 2 pianos
  • A Day in the Country
  • Youthful Adventures
  • Russian Tales
;Vocal
  • 6 Songs for voice and piano ; words by Alexander Pushkin
  • 7 Songs on Words of Armenian Poets
  • 5 Sonnets by William Shakespeare for voice and piano
  • 4 Songs for voice and piano ; words by Samuil Marshak
  • Prison Diary, Song Cycle for voice and piano ; words by Ho Chi Minh
  • Before the Storm, Song Cycle for voice and piano
  • Poetry, Cycle for 2 voices, clarinet, cello, piano and percussion ; words by Federico García Lorca
  • 5 Songs for voice and piano ; words from Winter by Luís de Camões
;Choral
;Film scores
  • Smoke in the Forest ; directed by Yevgeny Karelov and Yuri Chylyukin
  • Circus Festival, documentary film
  • Timur and His Command, also Timur and His Team ; directed by Alexander Blank and Sergei Linkov
  • Marshal revolyutsii ; directed by Sergei Linkov
  • Krik gagary ; directed by Sergei Linkov
  • Lenin in Paris ; directed by Sergei Yutkevich
  • Bereg yevo zhizni ; directed by Yury Solomin
  • The Best Years ; directed by Sergei Linkov

    Discography

  • The Diary of Anne Frank, Monologue-Opera; World Premiere Recording; Sandra Schwarzhaupt ; Hans Erik Deckert ; Emsland Ensemble; Profil PH04044