Fried Walter (9 December 1907 in
Ottendorf-Okrilla
Ottendorf-Okrilla is a municipality in the Bautzen district, Saxony, Germany. It is located 20 km northeast of Dresden.
Geography
The area of the municipality is 25.88 km², of which 1.58 km² are commercially used. The length from ...
as ''Walter Emil Schmidt'', 8 April 1996 in Berlin) was a
German composer. He composed over five hundred pieces and arranged more than 250 songs, including many
''Volkslieder'', and he is considered one of the most versatile and prolific composers of
German light music.
Life
Fried Walter was born as the son of an elementary school teacher near
Dresden. His mother died when Walter was only 5 years old. Although his father encouraged him to also become a teacher, Walter focused his studies on musical instruments, including
piano,
cello,
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
, and
French horn. At the age of 17, he was accepted as a student for
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
and
conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...
at the
Semperoper opera house in Dresden. He earned his first paycheck as a horn player playing
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
operas as an
ensemble musician. After completing his education, he volunteered for the state theater in
Gotha, after which he moved to the
Reußisch-Fürstliche Theater in
Gera. The
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
forced him to give up his position.
Walter moved to Berlin, where he studied the techniques of
silent film accompaniment from
Giuseppe Becce
Giuseppe Becce (3 February 1877 – 5 October 1973) was an Italian-born film score composer who enriched the German cinema.
Biography
Becce was born in Lonigo/Vicenza, Italy. He showed his musical talents early and was named the director of ...
; however, with the advent of
sound film, his career as silent film accompanist never came to fruition. Walter applied to the
Prussian Academy of Arts, where he received a scholarship to study under
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
. Although he rehearsed two of Schoenberg's operas in the
Kroll Opera House, Walter categorically rejected
dodecaphony
The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...
.
After his training under Schoenberg, Walter worked as musician in German ''
kabarett'',
variety shows, and
circus. He also was an accompanist for various vocal ensembles, including the
Humoresk Melodios and
Comedian Harmonists. In 1933, Walter married the Dutch cabaret performer Elisabeth Stuy. When the
National Socialists came to power, Walter avoided all contact with the party and military, which helped him receive a position as a freelancer for the
Rundfunksender Leipzig radio station. During his time as a freelancer, he took lessons under
Hermann Ambrosius
Hermann Ambrosius (25 July 1897 – 25 October 1983) was a German composer and music educator.
Life
Born in Hamburg, Ambrosius came via Magdeburg, Berlin and Chemnitz to Leipzig, where he received his musical education. He was a master student ...
at the
Leipzig Conservatory. He lived in the Netherlands for a short period of time with his wife, where he was unable to find work as an expatriate from Germany. In 1938, he composed the opera ''Königin Elisabeth'' (Queen Elizabeth), which one year later was performed at the
Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Location and environment
The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...
in Stockholm with the attendance of the
King of Sweden Gustav V
Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...
. After the great success of his opera, the conductor
Heinz Tietjen
Heinz Tietjen (24 June 1881 – 30 November 1967) was a German conductor and music producer born in Tangier, Morocco.
Biography
Tietjen was born in Tangier, Morocco. At age twenty-three, he held the position of producer at the Opera House in ...
commissioned Walter to compose a new stage work, which also ensured that Walter would not be drafted into the
German military. The opera ''Andreas Wolfius'' premiered at the
Berlin State Opera
The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
in 1940. In
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
, Walter went to Prague and directed his
ballet ''Kleopatra'' (Cleopatra). Walter Fried's success as a composer led to his name being compiled in Adolf Hitler's infamous August 1944
Gottbegnadeten list, which venerated artists important to the
Nazi party.
Despite his veneration by the Nazi Party, Walter was not classified as a ''Belastete'' (offender) by the
allied forces during
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
at the end of World War II, so he was able to receive a post at the Berlin State Opera as a
répétiteur and concert pianist. There he premiered his ballet ''Der Pfeil'' (The Arrow). In 1947, he was hired at the broadcasting station
RIAS, which was established by the
allied forces. He worked there for 25 years as a music director, conductor, and arranger of musical pieces. There he met his second wife Edith. His recordings with the RIAS radio orchestra include classics such as the
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
''Zigeunerliebe'' (Gypsy Love) and the ballet
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
, and many young composers premiering their works through the German broadcaster
ARD recorded with his orchestra. In addition, Walter performed throughout
West Germany and
Austria. His last opera ''Die fünf Bräute'' (The Five Brides) premiered in 1998 under the direction of
Claus Martin, with musical direction by
Franns Wilfried Promnitz.
After the
reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, Walter's hometown of
Ottendorf-Okrilla
Ottendorf-Okrilla is a municipality in the Bautzen district, Saxony, Germany. It is located 20 km northeast of Dresden.
Geography
The area of the municipality is 25.88 km², of which 1.58 km² are commercially used. The length from ...
honored him as an exemplary citizen, and after his death in 1996, the town commemorated a street in his honor. He is buried in the
Friedhof Dahlem
The Dahlem Cemetery (german: Friedhof Dahlem, italic=no, sometimes improperly referred to as Friedhof Dahlem-Dorf), is a cemetery in Berlin-Dahlem. The cemetery was built according to the plans of the architects Friedrich and Wilhelm Hennigs.
Not ...
cemetery in Berlin.
References
* Mathias Henke: ''Das große Buch der Zupfmusik''. Schwingestein-Verlag, p. 153
* Heinrich Vogel: ''Fried Walter. Verzeichnis seiner Kompositionen und Bearbeitungen. Eine Dokumentation''. Fried-Walter-Archiv Heinrich Vogel, Remscheid, Weststr. 21, 1993
Orchestra works (selected)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Fried
20th-century German composers
1907 births
1996 deaths