James Friskin

James Friskin (born March 3, 1886 in Glasgow , † March 16, 1967 in New York City ) was a Scottish-American pianist, music teacher and composer.

Friskin studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Edward Dannreuther (piano) and Charles Villiers Stanford (composition). From 1909 to 1914 he taught at the Royal Normal College for the Blind in London. In 1914 he moved to the USA, where he initially taught at the Institute of Musical Arts in New York . He later became a faculty member at the Juilliard Graduate School , where he taught until his death. In 1944 he married the composer and violist Rebecca Clarke .

Friskin was particularly concerned with the work of Johann Sebastian Bach and recorded several of his works on record in 1954 and 1956 respectively.

James Friskin's compositional work, which is hardly known today, was largely created during his time in London and includes chamber music works (including his piano quintet in C minor op. 1 from 1907 , which was often performed in London before the First World War ), a piano concerto, a concert overture and songs. He also published The principles of Pianoforte Practice in 1921 and - together with Irwin Freundlich - the manual Music for Piano (New York, 1954).

Web links

• Information provided by the Scottish Music Center (Engl.)
• Information at bach-cantatas.com (English)