(b Burgos, 15 Sept 1933). Spanish conductor of German-Spanish parentage. Born Rafael Frühbeck, he took an additional name from his birthplace to identify himself as Spanish when conducting abroad. He trained at the Bilbao and Madrid conservatories, principally as a violinist, then became a conductor with a zarzuela company in Madrid. After military service as an army director of music (1953–6) he studied conducting at the Musikhochschule in Munich under G.E. Lessing and Kurt Eichhorn. He returned to Spain as conductor of the Bilbao SO from 1958 to 1962, when he became music director of the Spanish National Orchestra, a post he held until 1978. He was the first conductor to perform the St Matthew Passion in Spain, and regularly included avant-garde music by Spanish and other composers in his Madrid concerts. He was, in addition, Generalmusikdirektor at Düsseldorf (1966–71), concentrating on symphonic rather than operatic performance, and from 1974 to 1976 was music director of the Montreal SO. Frühbeck has been a guest conductor with many leading orchestras in Europe, Israel, Japan and the USA, and in Britain was closely associated with the New Philharmonia, particularly with its chorus, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. From 1980 to 1990 he was principal guest conductor of the National SO, Washington, DC. In 1991 Frühbeck became music director of the Vienna SO, and from 1992 to 1997 he was music director of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, his first major operatic post. In 1994 he was appointed music director of the Berlin Radio SO.
Frühbeck made fine recordings with the New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus of such works as Carmina burana, Elijah and Mozart’s Requiem; other recordings include Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, the complete orchestral and stage works of Falla and many zarzuelas. His recording of Carmen (1970), one of the first to include the original spoken dialogue, is noteworthy for its well-sprung excitement, freshness and sensitivity – qualities that continue to inform Frühbeck’s work. His Spanish honours include the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil.
J. McLellan: ‘Free-Lance Conductor’, International Herald Tribune (30 March 1981)
J.L. Holmes: Conductors: a Record Collector’s Guide (London, 1988), 82–3
ARTHUR JACOBS/NOËL GOODWIN
Frühling, Carl
(b Lemberg [now L'viv], 28 Nov 1868; d Vienna, 25 Nov 1937). Austrian composer and pianist. He studied the piano with Anton Door and counterpoint, composition and musicology with Franz Krenn at the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde (1887–9). He then worked as an accompanist, partnering such performers as Huberman, Sarasate and the Rosé Quartet, and as a teacher. A victim of the rampant inflation in Austria after World War I, he spent his final years in straitened financial circumstances.
Frühling's early piano works are in the mould of salon pieces. He soon graduated to more ambitious chamber forms: despite a certain eclecticism, works such as the Piano Quintet op.30 and the Clarinet Trio op.40 are firmly within the Romantic tradition and eschew modernist tendencies. His lieder are predominantly lyrical in tone, with occasional touches of gentle humour. As well as sensitive settings of Theodor Storm, Christian Morgenstern and Jens Peter Jacobsen, they include songs to texts by poets of his immediate Vienna circle, such as Carl Schiller, Max Roden, August Eigner and Rudolf List. (MGG1, F. Racek)
WORKS
(selective list)
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Orch: Pf Conc., op.12; Festmarsch, op.23; Scènes de ballet, op.34; Suite, F, op.36, str; Fantasie, op.55, fl, orch; Heitere Ouvertüre, op.75; Miniaturen, suite, op.78; Humoreske, op.87
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Chbr: Sonata, op.22, vc, pf; Str Qt, E, op.25; Pf Qnt, f, op.30; Pf Trio, E, op.32; Pf Qnt, D, op.35; Trio, a, op.40, cl, vc, pf; Duettino, op.57, 2 fl; Rondo, op.66, fl, pf
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Pf: Lucie, mazurka, op.1; La piquante, polka française, op.5; Mazurka brillante, op.11; Serenade, op.13; Pas des sylphides, waltz, op.14; 5 pièces, opp.15–19; 3 Klavierstücke, op.21; Konzertwalzer, op.24; 2 Klavierstücke, op.37; other waltzes
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Choral: Grosse Messe, G, op.6; Cant. (A. Silesius), op.54, solo vv, mixed chorus, org; 3 Sinnsprüche (Assim Agha), op.62, mixed chorus; Lied der Eintagsfliegen (C. Schneller), op.63, female vv, pf 4 hands; Am Strome, op.67, male vv; 2 Lieder im Volkston, op.68, mixed chorus; Brudergruss, op.73, male vv; Matt giesst der Mond, op.74, mixed chorus; other works for mixed chorus (opp.77, 89, 91, 93, 102) and male vv (opp.80, 83, 86, 106)
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Solo vocal: Der Landsturm (M. Marton), op.39, 1v, orch; 3 Gesänge nach altjapansichen Gedichten, op.47, 1v, orch; Gesang Buddhas, op.59, Bar, wind orch; 2 Gesänge, op.70, T, orch; 5 Lieder, 1v, orch; many lieder, 1v, pf
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Principal publishers: J. Eberle, C. Gebauer (Bucharest), E.C. Leuckart, Universal
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Frumerie, (Per) Gunnar (Fredrik) de
(b Nacka, 20 July 1908; d Mörby, 9 Sept 1987). Swedish composer, pianist and teacher. At first he studied the piano with his mother and then, from the age of 12, with L. Lundberg. Studies at the Stockholm Conservatory (1923–8) were followed by periods in Vienna and Paris (1928–31) under von Saurer and Cortot (piano), and E. Stein and Sabaneyev (theory). In 1945 he was appointed piano teacher at the Stockholm Musikhögskolan, becoming professor in 1962. A man of impulsive and florid temperament, he absorbed the most varied influences. Compositions from the 1930s show a striving for formal strictness (often following Baroque models), a result of his contact with Parisian neo-classicism. The opera Singoalla immediately distinguished him as a composer of powerful music drama. Later important works include the ballet Johannesnatten, based on naive religious paintings, and the choral pieces Fader vår and Åtta psalmer ur Psaltaren. He has few Swedish equals in the field of song. The clarity, purity and sparseness that from the first characterized his songs and chamber pieces also mark the orchestral works of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the wind concertos. Frumerie, an outstanding and colourful pianist, wrote much for his instrument, the best such works being the two piano quartets, the Piano Trio no.2 and the First Sonata, built on a theme composed during his Paris stay.
WORKS
(selective list)
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Stage: Singoalla (op, E. Byström-Baeckström, after V. Rydberg), op.22, 1937–40; Johannesnatten, ballet, op.39, 1947
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Orch: Pf Conc., op.3, 1929; Suite, op.5b, small orch, 1930; Variations and Fugue, op.11, pf, orch, 1932; Pastoral Suite, op.13b, fl, hp, str, 1933; Pf Conc. no.2, op.17, 1935; Vn Conc., op.19, 1936, rev. 1976; Sym. Variations on ‘Vårvindar friska’, op.25, 1941; Sym. Ballad, op.31, pf, orch, 1944; Sym. Suite, op.44, 1951; 2-Pf Conc., op.46, 1953; Cl Conc., op.51, 1958; Tpt Conc., op.52, 1959; Ob Conc., op.54, 1961; Fl Conc., op.67, 1969; Hn Conc., op.70, 1972; Ballad, op.74, 6 Mez ad lib, orch, 1975; Concertino, op.78, pf, str, 1977; Vc Conc., op.81, 1949, rev. 1984; Trbn Conc., op.82, 1986 [version of Vc Conc.]
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Choral: Fader vår (Lord’s Prayer), op.36, S, chorus, orch, org, 1946; 8 psalmer ur Psaltaren [8 Psalms of David], op.47, chorus, orch, org, 1955; Vita nuova (P. Lagerkvist), op.50, chorus, 1956; Cant., op.53, Bar, chorus, orch, 1960; other a cappella pieces
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Solo vocal: 8 Zigeunerlieder (H. Conrat), op.1, Mez, pf, 1927, rev. 1968; 5 kinesiska poem, op.4, S, pf, 1929–38, 4 nos. orchd; En moder (H.C. Andersen), op.9, reciter, orch, 1932, rev. 1967; Persiska sånger (Hafiz), op.18, Mez, pf, 1936, rev. 1953; 7 hjärtats sånger [7 Songs of the Heart], op.27 (Lagerkvist), S/T, pf, 1942, rev. 1976, nos.1, 6 orchd; Evighetsland (Lagerkvist), op.33a, 10 songs, S, pf, 1942–6, no.7 orchd 1946, no.1 arr. org/str qt, 1979; Aftonland (Lagerkvist), opp.48, 55, 58, 60, 22 songs, 1955–64; 4 nya kinesiska sånger (Li Tai Po), op.66, S, pf, 1968; 4 sånger (E. Lindegren), op.72, 1974; Dante (Ung i Firenze) (F. Wirén), op.76, 1v, pf, fl ad lib, wind orch, 1977; Vallvisor och andra visor (trad.), S, fl, gui, 1978; Der Frühlingsregen (H. Bethge), S/B, pf, 1985; many other songs, 1v, pf, some orchd
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Chbr: Str Qt, 1925; Str Qt, 1928; Sonata, vc, pf, 1930; Pf Trio, 1932, rev. 1975; Pastoral suite, op.13a, fl, pf, 1933; Sonata, vn, pf, 1934, rev. 1962; Pf Qt, 1941; Str Qt, 1942, rev. 1948; Sonata, vn, pf, 1944; Elegiac Suite, op.37, vc, pf, 1946, rev. 1971, 1978; Sonata, vc, pf, 1949; Pf Trio, 1952; 12 Little Variations on a Swedish Folksong, op.49, vn, pf, 1956, rev. 1976; Pf Qt, 1963; Divertimento, op.63, cl, vc, 1966; Suite, op.71, wind qnt, 1973; Str Qt, 1974; Musica per nove, op.75, ob, cl, bn, tpt, pf, vn, va, vc, db, 1976; Ballad (Variationer och fuga över en svensk folkmelodi), op.61c, 2 pf, 1977; Ouvertyr, aria och fuga, op.77, org, 1977; Sonata, trbn, pf, 1986 [version of Trbn Conc.]
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Pf: Suite, 1930, rev. 1977; Chaconne, 1932, rev. 1979; Suite, 1936, rev. 1979; Suite, 1948, no.1 arr. 2 pf, 1977; 2 sonatinas, 1950; Passacaglia, 1964; Ballad, 1965; Circulus quintus, 24 educational pieces, op.62, 1965; 2 sonatas, 1968; Dedikationer, op.80, 12 pieces, 1982; Intermezzo och fuga, op.81, 1983
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Principal publishers: Nordiska musikförlaget, Stockholm, Gehrman, Suecia
| BIBLIOGRAPHY
‘Gunnar de Frumerie berättar om sig själv’, Musikvärlden, i (1945), 12
Å. Brandel: ‘Eine reife Generation: Larsson–Wirén–de Frumerie–von Koch’, Musikrevy International (1959), 47–56 [Eng. trans. in Musikrevy International (1960), 61–9]
G. Bergendal: 33 svenska komponister (Stockholm, 1972)
R. Haglund: ‘Levande glans och brinnande lyster’, Upptakt (1975), no.3, p.8
B. Huldt: ‘Tonsättaren Gunnar de Frumerie’, Operan (1988–9), no.9, pp.13–21
H. Åstrand: ‘Gunnar de Fumeries stipendiatrapporter’, Årsskrift [Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien] (1987), 47–54
ROLF HAGLUND
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