Benjamin Frankel

Benjamin Frankel

Known for: Sound
Biography: 1906-01-31
Deathday: 1973-02-12 (67 years old)

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Biography

Benjamin Frankel (31 January 1906 – 12 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores and working as a big band arranger in the 1930s. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition which retained contact with tonality. Frankel was born in London on 31 January 1906, the son of Polish Jewish parents. He began to learn the violin at an early age, showing remarkable talent; at age 14, his piano-playing gifts attracted the attention of the American pianist and teacher Victor Benham (1867-1936) who persuaded his parents to let him study music full-time.He spent six months in Germany in 1922, then returned to London, where he won a scholarship from the Worshipful Company of Musicians and attempted his first serious compositions while earning his income as a jazz violinist, pianist and arranger. Known then as Ben Frankel, his jazz work can be heard on recordings by Fred Elizalde's band. He also played violin with Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans.By the early 1930s, Frankel was in demand as an arranger and musical director in London, working with several dance bands. He wrote several popular dance band arrangements for Henry Hall's BBC Dance Orchestra, including "Learn To Croon", "Don't Blame Me", "Weep No More My Baby", "April in Paris" and "In Town Tonight". He wrote many arrangements and scores for theatre and film music but gave up theatre work in 1944.

He did, however, retain an interest in film composing until his death, writing over 100 scores. These included The Seventh Veil (1945), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), The Night of the Iguana (1964), and Battle of the Bulge (1965), as well as the first British (partly) serial film score, to The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).From 1941 until 1952 he was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, but resigned his membership in protest against the Slánský trial.During and after the war Frankel started to become widely known as a composer of works in traditional classical form. One of the first to gain attention was the Sonata No 1 for solo violin of 1942, which was dedicated to the Austrian-born violinist and viola player Max Rostal.

Rostal made the premiere recording in 1944.He went on to perform Frankel's most famous work, the Violin Concerto "in memory of 'the six million'" (a reference to the Jews murdered during the Holocaust), commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain, and was the soloist in the Viola Concerto for BBC radio broadcasts in 1970 and 1972. The core of Frankel's output are the eight symphonies (composed between 1958 and 1971) and the five string quartets (composed between 1945 and 1965). His friend Hans Keller was a champion of his concert music and did much to promote its performance at home and abroad.In 1955 Frankel succeeded Edward Clark as Chairman of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). That year issues arose about certain expenses Clark had claimed while he was chairman. Clark alleged that Frankel had accused him of fraud. Frankel denied he had ever made such a claim, but nevertheless said that such a claim, had he made it, would have been true. This amounted to slander as far as Clark was concerned, and he sued Frankel in the High Court, calling the composers Christian Darnton and Bernard Stevens as witnesses. While Frankel's alleged slander itself was unproven, the jury exonerated Clark of any wrongdoing and he felt this meant his integrity was intact. Clark's wife Elisabeth Lutyens ever after referred to Frankel as "composer and ex-colleague".Born and raised in Hammersmith, Frankel lived in London for many years, most notably at 17 Soho Square between 1953 and 1957, where he was the host of a circle of artists including the poet Cecil Day Lewis and film director Anthony Asquith. From 1952 there was also a house in Sussex, Rodmell Hiil, Rodmell, near Lewes. The writer Leonard Woolf lived next door. In 1958 he re-located to Locarno in Switzerland. He married three times: first in 1932 to Joyce Stanmore Rayner (divorced 1944), then to Phyllis Anna Leat (1944 until her death in 1967), and finally to Xenia Hamilton-Kennaway in 1972, not long before his death. There were two sons and one daughter by the first marriage.Frankel died in London on 12 February 1973 while working on the three-act opera Marching Song and a ninth symphony, which had been commissioned by the BBC. When he died, Marching Song had been completed in short score; it was orchestrated by Buxton Orr, a composer who had studied with Frankel and whose advocacy has been at least partly responsible for the revival of interest in his works.

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Filmography

all 64

Movies 64

Director 1

Composer
Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge (1965)

Movie
4
Composer
The Siege of Manchester

The Siege of Manchester (1965)

Movie
Music
The Night of the Iguana

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

Movie
4
Original Music Composer / Conductor
The Old Dark House

The Old Dark House (1963)

Movie
Composer
Guns of Darkness

Guns of Darkness (1962)

Movie
Composer
The Curse of the Werewolf

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Movie
5.88
Original Music Composer
Surprise Package

Surprise Package (1960)

Movie
Composer
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1959)

Movie
Composer
Libel

Libel (1959)

Movie
Composer
Orders to Kill

Orders to Kill (1958)

Movie
Composer
Happy Is the Bride

Happy Is the Bride (1958)

Movie
Composer
I Only Arsked

I Only Arsked (1958)

Movie
Music
Brothers in Law

Brothers in Law (1957)

Movie
Composer
The Iron Petticoat

The Iron Petticoat (1956)

Movie
Composer
Lost

Lost (1956)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Conductor
Storm Over the Nile

Storm Over the Nile (1955)

Movie
Composer
Simon and Laura

Simon and Laura (1955)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Conductor
Footsteps in the Fog

Footsteps in the Fog (1955)

Movie
Composer
A Kid for Two Farthings

A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)

Movie
Composer
The Prisoner

The Prisoner (1955)

Movie
6
Composer
The End of the Affair

The End of the Affair (1955)

Movie
Composer
The Man Who Loved Redheads

The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955)

Movie
Composer
Aunt Clara

Aunt Clara (1954)

Movie
Composer
Mad About Men

Mad About Men (1954)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Conductor
The Young Lovers

The Young Lovers (1954)

Movie
Composer
Malaga

Malaga (1954)

Movie
Composer
The Love Lottery

The Love Lottery (1954)

Movie
Composer
Up to His Neck

Up to His Neck (1954)

Movie
Music
Power to Fly

Power to Fly (1954)

Movie
Composer
Always a Bride

Always a Bride (1953)

Movie
Composer
The Final Test

The Final Test (1953)

Movie
Composer
The Net

The Net (1953)

Movie
Music
The Moving Spirit

The Moving Spirit (1953)

Movie
Composer
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952)

Movie
Composer
The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

Movie
Composer
Mr. Denning Drives North

Mr. Denning Drives North (1951)

Movie
Composer
Appointment with Venus

Appointment with Venus (1951)

Movie
Composer
The Man in the White Suit

The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Movie
5
Composer
Hotel Sahara

Hotel Sahara (1951)

Movie
Composer
The Long Dark Hall

The Long Dark Hall (1951)

Movie
Composer
The Clouded Yellow

The Clouded Yellow (1950)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Night and the City

Night and the City (1950)

Movie
4.6
Composer
Moving House

Moving House (1950)

Movie
Composer
So Long at the Fair

So Long at the Fair (1950)

Movie
Composer
Double Confession

Double Confession (1950)

Movie
Composer
Trottie True

Trottie True (1949)

Movie
Composer
The Chiltern Hundreds

The Chiltern Hundreds (1949)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Portrait from Life

Portrait from Life (1948)

Movie
Composer
London Belongs to Me

London Belongs to Me (1948)

Movie
6
Composer
Sleeping Car to Trieste

Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948)

Movie
Composer
Daybreak

Daybreak (1948)

Movie
6
Composer
Bond Street

Bond Street (1948)

Movie
Composer
Nightbeat

Nightbeat (1947)

Movie
Composer
Mine Own Executioner

Mine Own Executioner (1947)

Movie
Composer
Dancing with Crime

Dancing with Crime (1947)

Movie
6
Original Music Composer
Dear Murderer

Dear Murderer (1947)

Movie
Composer
A Girl in a Million

A Girl in a Million (1946)

Movie
Composer
English Criminal Justice

English Criminal Justice (1946)

Movie
Composer
The Years Between

The Years Between (1946)

Movie
Composer
Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. I: Julius Caesar - The Forum Scene - Act III. Scene 2

Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. I: Julius Caesar - The Forum Scene - Act III. Scene 2 (1945)

Movie
Original Music Composer
The Seventh Veil

The Seventh Veil (1945)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Bon Voyage

Bon Voyage (1944)

Movie
Original Music Composer
Aventure Malgache

Aventure Malgache (1944)

Movie
Original Music Composer / Music Director
Radio Parade of 1935

Radio Parade of 1935 (1934)

Movie

Ratings

Average 5.89
Based on 106 Thousand movie and tv ratings over time
1934
1948
1953
1950
1965
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Information

Known For
Sound

Gender
Male

Birthday
1906-01-31

Deathday
1973-02-12 (67 years old)

Birth Place
London, United Kingdom

Citizenships
United Kingdom

Also Known As
Ben Frankel


This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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  • Benjamin Frankel
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