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
;StageThe 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 composerVan 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
- 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
- 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 ParisFantasia 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
- Sonatina
- Sonata No. 1
- Sonata No. 2
- Sonata for 2 pianos A Day in the CountryYouthful AdventuresRussian Tales
;ChoralRainbow, Cycle for chorus and chamber orchestra ; words by Samuil Zalmanovich Galkin
;Film scoresSmoke in the Forest ; directed by Yevgeny Karelov and Yuri ChylyukinCircus Festival, documentary film Timur and His Command, also Timur and His Team ; directed by Alexander Blank and Sergei LinkovMarshal revolyutsii ; directed by Sergei LinkovKrik gagary ; directed by Sergei LinkovLenin in Paris ; directed by Sergei YutkevichBereg yevo zhizni ; directed by Yury SolominThe Best Years ; directed by Sergei Linkov