René Frank (composer, 1910)

René Frank (born February 16, 1910 - March 21, 1965 ) was a German-Alsatian pianist and composer of Jewish descent.

Life

Born in Alsace to Jewish parents, René Frank - his mother was a pianist and singer - began composing at the age of 13 and received his first lessons from Rudolph Fetsch (piano) and from Nicolai Lopatnikoff , Hermann Reutter and Wolfgang Fortner . He attended secondary school in Pforzheim and had to leave Germany with his family in 1935.

Frank first emigrated to Yokohama (Japan) and worked there for a Swiss export company. Meanwhile married to a non-Jewish woman and plunged into religious confusion by a divine “enlightenment” in 1942, Frank converted and decided to continue his life as a composer and musician. In Kobe (Japan) he and his wife settled down where he gave piano lessons and began to compose continuously. As a result of two apartment fires, his work has only survived from 1946, with a few exceptions.

In 1947 the Frank family moved to the USA, first to Philadelphia and in the fall of 1951 to Fort Wayne , Indiana, where Frank first studied music and graduated in 1953 and 1956 respectively.

Style and works

As a composer Frank turned mainly to Christian themes, including some 60 opus numbers with piano-accompanied sonatas for strings, a string quartet and a symphony “Passion” (op.38; 1955–56). From 1954 he taught on the Christian-oriented Fort Wayne campus of the local Taylor University . He died in 1965. His professor at Indiana University , Dr. Bernhard Heiden (quoted from Jackish): “The greatest stylistic influence on his work was undoubtedly exercised by Paul Hindemith , especially Hindemith of the 'utility music' period; he himself found a simple and direct way of expression, technically not very complicated, clear and unpretentious. "

swell

• Frederiek Jackish, René Frank Biography and list of works on the website of the Fort Wayne Campus, Indiana / USA [1]
• Anderson, Ruth (Eds.), Contemporary American Composers , Boston 1982.

Web links

• List of works