Hans Fryba

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Hans Fryba (*  24. April 1899 in Reisenberg as Johann Frýba ; †  3. January 1986 in Gramatneusiedl ) was an Austrian bass - virtuoso and composer .

biography

Fryba grew up in the workers' house in Neugebauten in Marienthal, south of Vienna . He studied for six years at the Imperial Academy of Music and Performing Arts (since 1919 State Academy ) in the Austrian capital, his teacher in the instrumental major was Eduard Madenski , who at the time was considered a relatively progressive musicians and in particular for the orchestral music of Richard Strauss dedicated whose double bass voices were sometimes still considered "impracticable" at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1922, after completing his studies, Fryba became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic , with whom he played for three years. In 1925 he accepted a call to Athens , where, in addition to his position as principal bassist in the orchestra of Mégaron Mousikís , the most important concert hall in Greece, he also held a professorship at the Royal Conservatory .

In 1929 Fryba finally auditioned for the position of first double bass player at the Orchester de la Suisse Romande in Geneva . He received the post and spent the next four decades in this ensemble. The orchestra's excellent international reputation brought the bassist into contact with many of the most respected conductors and composers of the time, including Igor Stravinsky and Wilhelm Furtwängler , many of whom were downright enthusiastic about Fryba's technique and musicality. So wrote Thomas Beecham in January 1947:

I can truthfully say that Hans Fryba is one of the most remarkable players on his instrument I have known.

“ I can truly say that Hans Fryba is one of the most remarkable players of his instrument that I have ever known. "

Karl Böhm gave a very similar judgment almost two years later:

“ [Fryba's] technique, the purity of his tone on this instrument that is so difficult to make [to] sound is just incredible. I do not hesitate to say that I have never heard this so brittle instrument mastered in this way; in any case, he is the most worthy successor to his master Madenski. "

In 1968 Fryba ended his professional career as a musician, on the occasion of his retirement the Republic of Austria awarded him the professional title of professor, and an honorary professorship from the Geneva Conservatory followed a year later. In September 1969 he gave up his Swiss residence after forty years to return to his homeland. He spent the last decade and a half of his life in Gramatneusiedl, and after his death in January 1986 he was also buried in the community cemetery.

Compositional creation

Hans Fryba's oeuvre as a composer is not extensive: only three works were published during the musician's lifetime, with the publishing house of Josef Weinberger . Since this publishing house is based in the German-speaking area (namely in Vienna, Zurich and Frankfurt am Main ) as well as in London , all of Fryba's works have a German and an English title, and they are equally known under both, as the pieces are now larger worldwide Enjoying popularity among double bass players.

In addition to the published original compositions, according to concert reviews, there seems to be at least one other work by Fryba. This is an arrangement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Seven Variations on the theme “For men who feel love” for double bass (the Beethoven variations on the aria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte were originally composed for cello ).

Fryba demands the so-called solo tuning (F sharp - B - E - A, i.e. a whole tone higher than the tuning usual in the orchestra) for all of his compositions , as was the case almost without exception for this type of tuning in the follow-up to Giovanni Bottesini throughout most of the 20th century Music was used. Since the suite and the arabesques are works for unaccompanied bass, this is at best significant due to the special, brilliant timbre of the solo-tuned bass; both pieces can easily be interpreted on a "normal" instrument.

A Suite in the Olden Style for double bass solo

Theme of the sarabande from the suite in the old style : This slowest section of the six-movement work is considered particularly difficult to perform due to its polyphonic voice leading .

The “old style” to which the title of the suite published in 1954 refers is baroque music . Fryba obviously used the six cello suites BWV 1007–1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach , which were restored by Pau Casals at the beginning of the 20th century , as a concrete model had become very popular. The first double bass player who dared to interpret the Bach suites and thus inspired many imitators was the French Édouard Nanny . In its traditional six-part form, as well as its harmonic and melodic interpretation, Fryba's composition is skilfully modeled on the baroque model, which is only cautiously enriched with more modern influences. The main attraction of the piece is that it was written directly for the modern double bass tuned in fourths and therefore, in contrast to Bach's suites, the fingering options are optimally used:

“ In Fryba's suite in the old style , the lost violon playing manifests itself in the sense of the demands of the virtuoso orchestra, chamber music and solo playing. In using the double-fingering game , the composer was able to advance to a level of difficulty due to his familiarity with the application that clearly shows the limits of this technique. "

The sequence of the suite is: Prelude • Allemande • Courante • Sarabande • Gavotte I / II • Gigue .

Arabesques (Three Arabesques) for double bass solo

Beginning of the first arabesque : As the title implies, these three pieces are primarily characterized by oriental-influenced rhythms and melodies.

The three arabesques were Fryba's first composition to be published, the work first appeared in 1946 after the composer Arthur Honegger had strongly encouraged the bassist to find a publisher for the pieces that had been submitted to him for evaluation. As the title suggests, the pieces try to imitate the tone of the improvisations common in classical music in Arabia, the so-called maqamāt .

According subtitles Fryba has the arabesques conceived mainly as a rhythmic studies, three each about one and a half minutes long sections are in the signatures 5 / 8 , 7 / 8 and 4 / 4 .

Concert study for double bass with piano accompaniment

Beginning of the concert - etude : The double bass part is notated in C major. The notes played by the soloist actually sound in D major due to the solo tuning, as can be seen from the piano accompaniment.

Just as the suite was published in 1954, the concert etude is the technically least demanding work of the three mentioned, but thanks to the supporting piano accompaniment, it is an effective performance piece for aspiring virtuosos, which is now often performed by advanced music students. The Concert Etude engages loosely on the shape of the Sonatine back, the four sets read: Allegro rato ( 2 / 4 ¯ clock, D-Dur ) • Andante cantabile ( 3 / 8 ¯ clock, G major ) • Allegro ( 6 / 8 ¯ clock, a major ) • tempo I ( 2 / 4 ¯ clock, D-Dur), the last sentence essentially a recapitulation represents the first.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Famous conductors on the double bass virtuoso Hans Fryba . Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Planyavsky, p. 337

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fryba, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frýba, Johann (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian double bass player and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Reisenberg , Lower Austria
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1986
Place of death Gramatneusiedl , Lower Austria