Fried Walter
Fried Walter (born December 19, 1907 in Ottendorf-Okrilla as Walter Emil Schmidt , † April 8, 1996 in Berlin ) was a German composer .
Life
Fried Walter was born as the son of a primary school teacher in the Dresden district. The mother died when Walter was five years old. The father planned for him to be a teacher. Walter also learned the instruments piano , cello , organ and French horn . At the age of 17 he was accepted as a theory and conducting student at the Dresden Opera . He earned his first own money as a horn player in the incidental music ensemble in Richard Wagner operas. After his training he volunteered at the Landestheater in Gotha , after which he switched to the Reussisch-Fürstliche Theater in Gera . The Great Depression in 1929 forced him to give up his position.
Walter turned to Berlin , where he studied the techniques of musical film accompaniment with Giuseppe Becce . A career as a film musician was no longer an option with the advent of talkies . Walter registered at the Akademie der Künste (Berlin) , where Arnold Schönberg accepted him as a student and he even received a scholarship. Although he studied two of his operas in the Kroll Opera for Schönberg , Walter categorically rejected twelve-tone music.
After his training at Schönberg he worked as a musician in cabarets, variety shows and in the circus. He was the piano accompanist of various vocal ensembles, such as Humoresk Melodios and Comedian Harmonists . In 1933 Walter married the Dutch cabaret artist Elisabeth Stuy. When the National Socialists came to power, Walter avoided any contact with the party and the military. He also managed to do this as a freelancer at the Leipzig radio station . He took lessons again, this time at the Leipzig Conservatory with Hermann Ambrosius . He lived with his wife in Holland for a short time , but as a German he received no more commissions. In 1938 he composed his opera "Queen Elisabeth", which was premiered a year later at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in the presence of King Gustav V (Sweden) . After the great success of his opera, Heinz Tietjen commissioned him with a new stage work and made sure that Walter was not drafted into the military. The opera "Andreas Wolfius" was premiered in 1940 at the Berlin State Opera. In 1943 Walter went to Prague and conducted his ballet “Cleopatra”. Walter's name is on the list of God-gifted people approved by Hitler in August 1944 .
Classified as unencumbered, Walter got a job as répétiteur and concert pianist at the Berlin State Opera immediately after the war . Here he was able to premiere his ballet “The Arrow”. In 1947 he was employed by RIAS , where he worked as a program designer, conductor and arranger for 25 years. Here he met his second wife Edith. His recordings with the RIAS entertainment orchestra, including classics such as the operetta Zigeunerliebe and the ballet Schwanensee , but also world premieres by up-and-coming composers, were broadcast by almost all ARD broadcasters. In addition, he introduced himself to his listeners through personal guest concerts in Germany and Austria . His last opera “The Five Brides” was premiered in Hermsdorf in 1998 under the musical direction of Franns Wilfried Promnitz in the direction of Claus Martin .
After reunification, his hometown Ottendorf-Okrilla honored him with honorary citizenship. In 1990 he was made an honorary member of the Association of German Plucked Musicians . After Walter's death, a street in Ottendorf-Okrilla was named after him. His grave is in the Berlin cemetery Dahlem on the Königin-Luise-Straße.
Fried Walter has written more than five hundred of his own compositions and around 250 arrangements, mainly folk song arrangements. He is one of the most versatile and productive German composers in the field of upscale light music .
literature
- Mathias Henke: The big book of plucked music . Schwingestein-Verlag, p. 153
- Heinrich Vogel: Fried Walter. Directory of his compositions and arrangements. A documentation . Fried Walter Archive Heinrich Vogel, Remscheid, Weststr. 21, 1993
Orchestral works (selection)
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Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walter, Fried |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schmidt, Walter Emil (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 19, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ottendorf-Okrilla |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 8, 1996 |
| Place of death | Berlin |