Benjamin Frankel (January 31, 1906 – February 12, 1973) was a British compo… Read Full Bio ↴Benjamin Frankel (January 31, 1906 – February 12, 1973) was a British composer.
Frankel was born in London on January 31, 1906, the son of Polish-Jewish parents. He started learning the violin at an early age, showing remarkable talent; at age 14, his piano-playing talents attracted the attention of Victor Benham, who persuaded his parents to let him study music full-time. He spent a few weeks in Germany in 1922, but quickly 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.
By the early 1930s, Frankel was in high demand as an arranger and musical director in London; he gave up theatre work in 1944, though, even though he retained an interest in movie composing until his death, writing over 100 scores. Frankel also became widely-known as a serious composer after World War II; his first work to gain fame was the violin concerto dedicated "in the memory of 'the six million'", a reference to the Jews murdered during the Holocaust, commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain and first performed by Max Rostal.
Frankel's most famous pieces include a cycle of five string quartets and eight symphonies as well as a number of concertos for violin and viola; his single best-known piece is probably the First Sonata for Solo Violin, which, like his concertos, resulted from a long association with Max Rostal. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition that retained contact with tonality.
Frankel died in London on February 12, 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 and 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.
In the twenty years following his death, Frankel's works were almost completely neglected. In 1996, BBC featured him as "Composer of the Week", allowing many people a first opportunity to hear his music (they did so again in 2006). A major turning point, however, came when a German record company CPO (Classic Produktion Osnabrück, since bought by JPC) decided to record his entire output with the help of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This has allowed, for the first time, an appraisal of his output.
Frankel was born in London on January 31, 1906, the son of Polish-Jewish parents. He started learning the violin at an early age, showing remarkable talent; at age 14, his piano-playing talents attracted the attention of Victor Benham, who persuaded his parents to let him study music full-time. He spent a few weeks in Germany in 1922, but quickly 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.
By the early 1930s, Frankel was in high demand as an arranger and musical director in London; he gave up theatre work in 1944, though, even though he retained an interest in movie composing until his death, writing over 100 scores. Frankel also became widely-known as a serious composer after World War II; his first work to gain fame was the violin concerto dedicated "in the memory of 'the six million'", a reference to the Jews murdered during the Holocaust, commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain and first performed by Max Rostal.
Frankel's most famous pieces include a cycle of five string quartets and eight symphonies as well as a number of concertos for violin and viola; his single best-known piece is probably the First Sonata for Solo Violin, which, like his concertos, resulted from a long association with Max Rostal. During the last 15 years of his life, Frankel also developed his own style of 12-note composition that retained contact with tonality.
Frankel died in London on February 12, 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 and 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.
In the twenty years following his death, Frankel's works were almost completely neglected. In 1996, BBC featured him as "Composer of the Week", allowing many people a first opportunity to hear his music (they did so again in 2006). A major turning point, however, came when a German record company CPO (Classic Produktion Osnabrück, since bought by JPC) decided to record his entire output with the help of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This has allowed, for the first time, an appraisal of his output.
Curse Of The Werewolf: I. Prelude
Benjamin Frankel Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Benjamin Frankel:
Panzerlied Ob's stürmt oder schneit, ob die Sonne uns lacht, Der Tag gl…
Panzerlied (The Tankmen's Song) Ob's sturmt oder schneit, Ob die Sonne uns lacht, Der Tag gl…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Randy Acuna
Yes a great score. Hammer pushed all The right buttons when it came to their movie scores. For me this movie is still the very best werewolf movie ever made.
J S Lasher
What a great score. One of the first British film scores to incorporate the 12-tone technique.
Gloria Janvier
Brilliant musical score!
James Stuart
I'm happy that you both enjoy the music...Frankel was a fantastic composer.
tandmark
This title theme resembles certain passages in Frankel's 2nd Symphony, which was composed around the same time. I'm not familiar enough with the symphony to claim that motifs or timbres were directly copied from one to the other, but if there's a musicology student looking for a topic, the interplay between Frankel's film scores & his more formal work seems like it'd be worth investigation.
Bradley Young
One of the most brilliant film scores ever.
Fifth Continent
We fully agree. Frankel was a superb composer, adept in all mediums.
Yves Che
Sur le plan musical, la grande surprise a été d’entendre une partition de Benjamin Frankel, habitué au monde du concert et aux productions tirées des classiques de la littérature; au générique de ce long métrage. John Hollingsworth, superviseur musical et chef d’orchestre attitré de la Hammer jusqu’à son décès inopiné en 1964, fréquentait assidûment les musiciens en vogue et, lorsque les conditions financières le lui permettaient, il tentait de soumettre un scénario à l’un ou l’autre parmi eux. Séduit à l’idée d’embrayer dans le domaine du fantastique, Benjamin Frankel a accepté sans poser trop de questions. Il savait que son travail consisterait à marcher dans les pas de James Bernard, sans plagier son écriture. Hormis un générique dans la plus pure tradition vigoureuse des climats de violence et d’horreur, avec un dosage de cuivres et de percussions, il voulait évoluer en suggérant les états d’âme du protagoniste dès le moment où il se rendait compte des meurtres qu’il commettait lorsqu’il n’était plus vraiment lui-même. Puis, il y avait cette histoire d’amour avec la douce Christina. Des occasions à ne pas rater pour créer des motifs pastoraux, avec des bois élégiaques, de la douceur et un appel à l’enchantement. Avec plus de cent B.O., huit symphonies, des opéras et des pièces concertantes, Benjamin Frankel n’a jamais cessé de composer jusqu’à son décès en 1973. Parmi ses œuvres les plus connues, les cinéphiles ont retenu « The night of the iguana » (1964) et surtout l’intense « Battle of the Bulge » (1965), vulgarisé chez nous sous son titre français : « La bataille des Ardennes ». Tardivement conscients de l’incidence commerciale de la partition écrite pour « The curse of the werewolf », certains décideurs ont inséré le thème romantique dans diverses compilations consacrées au cinéma fantastique britannique, avant de la faire rejouer à l’identique en 2005 pour le compte des éditions Naxos, sous la direction de Carl Davis à la tête du Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Une collection vendue à prix doux pour la satisfaction des amateurs. A lire; le bel ouvrage de Daniel Bastié sur la Hammer et ses créatures. "Frankenstein, Dracula et les autres sous les feux de la Hammer" (mars 2015 chez Grand Angle éditeur)
Herodotus Fumosus
Great. Where did you find this recording?
James Stuart
+Herodotus Fumosus Sorry, just saw your question. I don't know the original source, but I can guess. I got it through a 'friend of a friend'. Alas, it is not on CD : (