Yan Frenkel
Yan Frenkel (full name Yan Abramovich Frenkel) was a Soviet composer-songwriter, singer, violinist, pianist, guitarist, and actor. He was born on November 21, 1924, in Kyiv. He studied violin with his father and entered the music boarding school for gifted children at the Kyiv Conservatory in 1934. From 1938 to 1941, he studied violin with Yakov Magaziner and composition with Boris Lyatoshinsky at the conservatory.
Frenkel moved to Moscow in 1946. He arranged large-scale works, played violin in restaurants, led his own ensemble, and worked as a proofreader for the Music Fund. He wrote his first song, “A Pilot Walked Down the Lane,” in 1942, but found his calling as a songwriter in the 1960s, when “Years,” with lyrics by Mark Lisyansky, became known. He later worked with lyricists including Mikhail Tanich, Igor Shaferan, Konstantin Vanshenkin, and Inna Goff.
Among his best-known songs are “Cranes,” based on a poem by Rasul Gamzatov in a translation by Naum Grebnev, and “Russian Field.” The idea for “Cranes” came from Mark Bernes. Frenkel performed his songs in concert, often with the audience joining in, and his works were sung by Anna German, Joseph Kobzon, Georg Ots, Nana Bregvadze, Mark Bernes, and others. He also wrote music for stage productions, films, and animated films, and appeared as an actor in films.
Frenkel was a member of the Union of Soviet Composers and served as deputy chairman of the board of the Russian Federation Union of Composers. His honors included the State Prize of the USSR in 1982 and the title People's Artist of the USSR in 1989. He died of lung cancer in Riga on August 25, 1989. His last concert took place in Tomsk that spring; he was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.