Yan Frenkel(1920-1989)
- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Yan Frenkel is a Soviet songwriter, singer, violinist, actor. Honored Artist of the Russian SFSR (1973). People's Artist of the Russian SFSR (1978). People's Artist of the USSR (1989).
The family was musical, the father played the violin well, and taught this art to his son. Abram Frenkel himself learned to play very late, he could not become a professional musician. Therefore, as soon as his son turned four, he put the instrument in the child's hands. When eight-year-old Yan was shown to a teacher at the Kiev music school, he was delighted with how purely and sensually the boy played. And the boy was enrolled in the school straight away in the third grade. After finishing school in 1938-1941 he studied at the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in the violin class.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Yan Frenkel entered the Orenburg Anti-Aircraft School. He played the violin in the orchestra of the Aurora cinema. After graduating from college in 1942, he took part in military operations, was seriously wounded and after treatment from 1943 until the end of the war served in the front-line theater, playing the piano, violin, accordion. After the war, since 1946, he lived in Moscow, orchestrated large works and played the violin in various restaurants in the capital.
Since the early 1960s, he began working professionally as a songwriter. His first works were music and songs for the cartoons Skazka pro chuzhie kraski (1962), Svetlyachok N2 (1962) and Dve skazki (1962). He became widely known for his song "Years" based on the lyrics by Mark Lisyanskiy. In 1969, thanks to the idea of Mark Bernes, the song "Cranes" appeared, which flew around the world, based on the poem by Rasul Gamzatov, translated by Naum Grebnev.
The family was musical, the father played the violin well, and taught this art to his son. Abram Frenkel himself learned to play very late, he could not become a professional musician. Therefore, as soon as his son turned four, he put the instrument in the child's hands. When eight-year-old Yan was shown to a teacher at the Kiev music school, he was delighted with how purely and sensually the boy played. And the boy was enrolled in the school straight away in the third grade. After finishing school in 1938-1941 he studied at the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in the violin class.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Yan Frenkel entered the Orenburg Anti-Aircraft School. He played the violin in the orchestra of the Aurora cinema. After graduating from college in 1942, he took part in military operations, was seriously wounded and after treatment from 1943 until the end of the war served in the front-line theater, playing the piano, violin, accordion. After the war, since 1946, he lived in Moscow, orchestrated large works and played the violin in various restaurants in the capital.
Since the early 1960s, he began working professionally as a songwriter. His first works were music and songs for the cartoons Skazka pro chuzhie kraski (1962), Svetlyachok N2 (1962) and Dve skazki (1962). He became widely known for his song "Years" based on the lyrics by Mark Lisyanskiy. In 1969, thanks to the idea of Mark Bernes, the song "Cranes" appeared, which flew around the world, based on the poem by Rasul Gamzatov, translated by Naum Grebnev.
