In our country, perhaps, there is no such person who would not hear the song "Cranes". The music for it was written by Yan Abramovich Frenkel - an outstanding composer, talented musician, singer, arranger, People's Artist of the USSR. Jan Frenkel is the author of such hits as “Someone Loses, Someone Finds”, “Kalina Krasnaya”, “Pursuit”. His melodies are heard in films and television plays.
Biography of the composer
Yan Abramovich Frenkel was born on November 21, 1920 in Ukraine. Abram Natanovich, the father of the future composer, was a hairdresser by profession. It was he who decided to teach his son to play the violin, when the boy was only 4 years old. Subsequently, the teacher of the conservatory, Yakov Magaziner, heard Yan's performance and offered to send the child to a music school, after which Frenkel began to study at the violin department at the conservatory and attend composition classes.
The future famous composer and People's Artist of the USSR graduated from the conservatory in 1941 and at the very beginning of the war he became a cadet of an anti-aircraft school. As a cadet, he wrote his first song "The Pilot Was Walking Down the Lane." In 1943, in battle, Yan Abramovich was seriously wounded and he was transferred to serve in the front-line orchestra, in which he played various musical instruments. After the end of World War II, Frenkel moved to the capital and, like many musicians, began performing in Moscow restaurants.
The 60s became a turning point in the composer's life. It was then that his song "Years" to the words of Mark Lisyansky became a real hit. Then Jan Frenkel began working with many famous songwriters: M. Matusovsky, M. Tanich, I. Goff, I. Shaferan. The works of Jan Frenkel were performed by the great vocalists of that time, his songs were in the repertoire of Maya Kristalinskaya, Anna German, Nani Bregvadze, Lyudmila Zykina, Georg Otts, Mark Bernes and others. In addition, Yan Abramovich often traveled with concerts throughout the country, at which he sang his songs, which the whole USSR knew. The most famous hit of that period was the song "Cranes", written by Yan Abramovich on the verses of Ramsul Gamzatov in 1969. It was first performed by Mark Bernes.
In addition, Yan Abramovich Frenkel wrote music for cartoons, films, dramatic television plays. The composer wrote melodies and arranged arrangements for over 60 films.
In the 70s, work began on a new musical version of the Anthem of the Soviet Union, for which all the leading composers and orchestrators, including Frenkel, were involved. The commission headed by G. Sviridov and D. Shostakovich recognized Yan Abramovich's version as the most perfect.
The composer passed away in Riga in 1989, and was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery. During the ceremony, his music sounded, including the great song "Cranes".
Personal life
Frenkel met Natalya Mikhailovna Melikova, his future wife, during the war years. The composer lived with her all his life in a tiny room in a communal apartment. The marriage had a daughter named Nina, who now lives in Italy. Nina Yanovna has a son, who was named after grandfather Yan. He continued the dynasty of musicians and works in the United States with the Coast Guard Academy Orchestra.
