James Friskin (3 March 1886 – 16 March 1967) was a Scottish-born pianist, composer and music teacher who relocated to the United States in 1914.
Biography
Friskin studied in Glasgow with local organist Alfred Heap, and from 1900—at the precocious age of 14—at the Royal College of Music under Edward Dannreuther for piano and (from 1905) Charles Villiers Stanford for composition.[1] He completed his Piano Quintet in 1907 at age 21; published by Stainer & Bell, Thomas Dunhill assessed it as "one of the most brilliant op.1's in existence".[2] After completing his studies, from 1909 to 1914 Friskin taught at the Royal Normal College for the Blind. In 1914 he emigrated to the United States, where, at the invitation of Frank Damrosch, he became a founding teacher of the Institute of Musical Arts, forerunner of the Juilliard School of Music. He taught at Juilliard until his death.[1]
While still at the Royal College, Friskin met composer and violist Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979). His 1912 Elegy for viola and piano may have been written out of his unrequited love for her.[3] Friskin and Clarke, along with George Butterworth, formed a small choir to explore the works of Palestrina, asking Vaughan Williams to direct them.[1] More than thirty years later, Friskin and Clarke, both aged 58, were married in New York City (on 23 September 1944) after a chance reunion.[4][5]
In 1925, Friskin was the first pianist to perform J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations in the United States;[6] and in 1934 he performed both books of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier in two New York recitals.[6] He eventually recorded the Goldberg Variations in 1956, a year after Glenn Gould's celebrated recording.[7][8] Friskin's obituarist in The New York Times wrote, "He became known as a Bach specialist long before others began specializing in baroque composers . . . He doesn't exaggerate or distort the music and plays Bach in a way that goes to the heart of the music. Friskin was not pedantic in his approach to Bach. Nor was he overly Romantic, an accusation that has been levelled at some of his more famous contemporaries."[6]
Friskin's early promise as a composer was limited by his activities as a teacher and performer[9] and he appears to have given up composing soon after his move to the United States. The early Piano Quintet was followed by a series of Phantasie chamber works written for the Cobbett chamber music competitions, including a piano trio,[10][11] a string quartet and another piano quintet.[12][13] The Piano Sonata, perhaps his last major work, dates from 1915. Friskin returned to London to perform it at the Wigmore Hall in November, 1920.[14] There was also a handful of orchestral works, including a Piano Concerto which remained in manuscript and which has apparently been lost.[15]
