Frank Martin – Composer
(1890 – 1974)
Frank Martin – Composer (1890 – 1974)
This website is dedicated to the Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890 – 1974). Musicians, musicologists and concert organizers may be interested in a concise biography, and lists of works selected by genre (specifying instrumentation, duration, year of composition and the publisher of each work).
We invite all music lovers to look at the information about the Société Frank Martin (CH) and the Frank Martin Stichting (NL), the Frank Martin House in Naarden (NL) and the large collection of photos (classified according to different topics).
Interview with Maria Martin, Frank Martin’s widow:
(With English subtitles)
Quotations
To introduce the composer to you, here are some quotations by prominent musicians:
“When I play the ‘Polyptyque’ by Frank Martin I feel the same responsibility, the same exaltation as when I play Bach’s Chaconne”.
“His work stands like a rock and upholds credence in the future of music”.
“Frank Martin had the courage to tackle face on the problem […] of musical language possible in our time in all its generality and transcendence. That is why, once achieved, his feat is of universal consequence”.
“Many great works of this century are admired; few have the privilege of being loved. Frank Martin created works which are both admired and loved”.
“Frank Martin has always belonged to the elite of the musical world due solely to his creative genius, nurtured by the silent meditation in his work and by the fervour of his faith”.