Yan Frenkel
Yan Abramovich Frenkel (November 21, 1920August 25, 1989) was a Soviet composer and performer of Jewish descent. Frenkel received the People's Artist of the USSR in 1989 and USSR State Prize in 1982.
Also recorded as Yan Abramovich Frenkel
Yan Frenkel
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- Name
- Yan Frenkel
- Born
- 21 November 1920
- Birthplace
- Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
- Died
- 25 August 1989
- Place of death
- Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
- Occupation
- * Composer
- Nationality
- Soviet Union.
- Fields
- classical.
- Education
- Ukrainian National Academy of Music.
- Honours
- USSR State Prize, People's Artist of the USSR, Order of Friendship of Peoples, People's Artist of the RSFSR and Honored art worker of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
- Languages
- Ukrainian.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Yan Abramovich Frenkel (November 21, 1920August 25, 1989) was a Soviet composer and performer of Jewish descent. Frenkel received the People's Artist of the USSR in 1989 and USSR State Prize in 1982.
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Note VALÉORINE
Yan Frenkel (1924–1989) was an actor, composer and film score composer, among other activities, of Soviet nationality. The actor was born in Kyiv and died in Riga.
Yan Frenkel was educated at Ukrainian National Academy of Music. The actor was a member of Union of Soviet Composers.
The work spans classical and classical music. Languages used include Ukrainian. Honours include Order of Friendship of Peoples, People's Artist of the RSFSR and People's Artist of the USSR, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q771374 · wikipedia · Yan Frenkel
In this article
Biography
Biography
Yan Frenkel studied at Ukrainian National Academy of Music. The recorded working language is Ukrainian. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical. Distinctions recorded are USSR State Prize, People's Artist of the USSR, Order of Friendship of Peoples and People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Yan Frenkel • Born — 21 November 1920 • Birthplace — Kiev, Ukrainian SSR • Died — 25 August 1989 • Place of death — Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union • Occupation — * Composer • singer • violinist • pianist • actor • Instrument — Violin, piano
Biography
Biography
Yan Frenkel was a Soviet composer born in Kiev, Soviet Union. He was originally taught violin by his father, Avraham Nathanovich Frenkel, and later studied classical violin at the Kiev Conservatory under Yakob Magaziner, and the piano. During the Second World War he was evacuated to Orenburg, where he entered at the Orenburg Antiaircraft Military School (Zenitnoe Uchilishche), and played the violin in the orchestra of the Avrora Cinema. In 1942 he served at the front lines and was wounded. After the hospital, since 1943 played in the military orchestra. After the war, since 1946 he lived in Moscow, where he wrote orchestral arrangements and played the violin in small orchestras. He began composing songs in the 1960s. His first was the song Gody ('The Years'), written to lyrics by Mark Lisianski. During his later career he worked in collaboration with many prominent Soviet musicians, including Mikhail Tanich, Igor Shaferan, and the husband and wife team Konstantin Vanshenkin and Inna Goff. Thanks to Mark Bernes his song Zhuravli ('The Cranes', lyrics by Rasul Gamzatov) became a major hit. Frenkel gave concerts in which he performed his own music. During these concerts the audience would generally join in. His songs were included in the repertoire of many Soviet performers. He also appeared in the movie The Elusive Avengers, for which he composed a score. He performed his own songs in concerts, usually with the audience singing along with him. His works were in the repertoire of Anna German, Joseph Kobzon, Georg Ots, Mikhail Chuev, Nani Bregvadze, Mark Bernes, Emil Gorovets and Maya Kristalinskaya. Yan Frenkel died on August 25, 1989, in Riga (as foreshadowed in his song Avgust ('August') to the lyrics of Inna Goff). He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. The composer played his last concert in the spring of the same year in Tomsk. His wife Natalia died in the mid-1990s, but his daughter Nina has lived in Italy since the 1980s. His grandson Ian Frenkel is a musician (pianist and arranger) in the United States Coast Guard Band.
Trivia
Trivia
As reported by composer's fan site, members of Soviet ruling bureaucracy orchestrated a campaign against 'The Cranes', citing the song's religious undertones. The case was elevated all the way to the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who decreed "acceptable to perform, but not too often". Frenkel was the prototype for Gena the Crocodile, a fictional, friendly crocodile in the series of popular animation films Gena the Crocodile, Cheburashka and Shapoklyak.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• Adventures of the Yellow Suitcase (1970) • The Crown of the Russian Empire, or Once Again the Elusive Avengers (1971) • Incorrigible Liar (1973)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1989
Yan Frenkel died at Riga.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kyiv.
Birth place
Riga.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Yan Frenkel”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q771374: Yan Frenkel
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.История написания песни.
- 2.Ян Френкель. Музыка нашей жизни.
- 3.О журавлях, Гамзатове и Френкеле.
- 4.Channel One Russia. Ян Френкель, его судьба и его песни.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- The original version of this page was translated from the corresponding page in the Russian language Wikipedia
- Yan Frenkel (fansite in Russian)
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
Further particulars
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Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Yan Frenkel received USSR State Prize, People's Artist of the USSR, Order of Friendship of Peoples, People's Artist of the RSFSR and Honored art worker of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Recorded as actor, composer, singer and pianist.
Recognition and collections
Well, what do you say about Sakhalin
1965
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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