Frank martin composer biography kids

* 15. 11. 1890, † 21. 11. 1974.

The freelance composer and teacher Frank Martin was born on September 15, 1890, in Geneva and died on December 24, 1974, in Naarden (Holland). Frank Martin was born into a family of hugeunots who fled from the region of Montélimar in 1754 and settled in Geneva. He grew up in Geneva as the son of the vicar Charles Martin and attended the classical college there until completion of his undergraduate studies. Frank Martin learned to play the piano very early. At the age of 12 (1903) he had the opportunity of hearing St. Mathew's Passion by Johann-Sebastien Bach in Geneva. The emotions that Martin felt were very decisive and influenced his first compositions. Frank Martin never attended a conservatory but studied composition from 1906 onwards under Joseph Lauber (1864-1952) who had taught in Geneva since 1901. From 1908 onwards he studied (for two years) mathematics and physics at the University of Geneva but did not complete these studies, choosing inst

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Frank Martin: “I feel Blessed.”

by Alex Walsh

Frank Martin is a keyboard player, arranger, composer, conductor, session musician, band leader, and teacher. His list of recording credits include Narada Michael Walden, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Regina Bell, Tevin Campbell, and Chris Isaak. He joined Local 510 in the 1970s and is now a Local 6 life member.

“I did five records with Chris Isaak. I lucked out getting in there on Wicked Game which was a mega hit. I also did live gigs with him, including MTV Unplugged. It was a fun time.”

Frank Martin, 2015

Wicked Game was released in 1989. By this time Frank was a veteran session player, a dream he had since college. “One time Chris flew me to LA to record finger percussion on my samplers. He called me up and said, ‘We want to fly you down here to do overdubs.’ I said, ‘Awesome! Some keyboards? He said, ‘No, percussion.’ I said, ‘You’re crazy–there must be a couple decent percussionists in LA.’ He said,

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Frank Martin (1890 – 1974) was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands.

Frank Martin at sea off the coast of Iceland, 1963

Born into a Huguenot family in the Eaux-Vives quarter of Geneva, the youngest of the ten children of a Calvinist pastor named Charles Martin, Frank Martin was improvising at the piano even before he started school. At the age of nine, despite having received no musical instruction, he wrote some complete songs. He attended a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion when he was 12 and was deeply affected.

The Petite Symphonie Concertante of 1944/45 made Martin's international reputation and fryst vatten the best known of his orchestral works.