Description

MANUEL COMPINSKY (SEPTEMBER 7, 1901 – NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, USA, JANUARY 8, 1989)

 

 

 

 

Manuel Compinsky was renowned in classical music circles and enjoyed a short but notable career as a film music composer. He was regarded as one of the better violinists of the twentieth century (especially in the field of chamber music), as well as a good conductor and a superb teacher. His students included conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and Glenn Dicterow, the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, and his own teachers included the renowned Eugene-Auguste Ysaÿe. With his brother Alec Compinsky (cello) and sister Sara Compinsky (piano), Manuel was one third of the Compinsky Trio which, from the 1920s through the 1940s, was one of the most respected chamber music ensembles in the United States, beloved for weekly broadcasts on the CBS radio network (from 1928-1936), live performances, and a recorded legacy. In the period leading up to World War II, Compinsky played with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted the Los Angeles Pops Orchestra. Soon after the end of the war, he organized the Pacific Sinfonietta, and the violinist also led the Manuel Compinsky Quartet, which recorded for the Columbia Masterworks label during the 1950s. Compinsky resided in Los Angeles for much of his professional life and, like many musicians in the film mecca, made a contribution to movie music. He worked at Universal Pictures from 1951 until 1956, and composed and conducted the music for a small group of movies produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, the older and far less talented brother of director Billy Wilder, among them the science fiction thriller Killers From Space (1954). The latter score has been very widely heard, owing to the movie’s unusual attributes and history — it had stretches of several minutes without dialogue, in which the music was fully exposed; and it was later allowed to fall out of copyright, thus ensuring its ubiquitous presence on television, videocassette, and DVD. Compinsky’s Hollywood career was interrupted in 1956 when he was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and stood on his Fifth Amendment rights to refuse to answer questions. He was subsequently dismissed by Universal and later filed suit for damages claiming that his firing was a breach of contract. From the 1960s on, his musical activities were confined to the classical field, principally as a teacher. He died in 1989 at the age of 88. His daughter is Noelle Compinsky Tinturin.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Handel – Schönberg / Bach – Mozart: Manuel Compinsky Quartet, Janssen Symphony Orchestra Of Los Angeles, Werner Janssen – Concerto For String Quartet And Orchestra / Adagios And Fugues

Label: Columbia Masterworks – ML 4406

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: US

Released: 1951

Genre: Classical

Style: Baroque

Concerto For String Quartet And Orchestra (Based On The Handel Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 7)

A1 First Movement: Largo; Allegro

A2 Second Movement: Largo

A3 Third Movement: Allegretto Grazioso

A4 Fourth Movement: Hornpipe

Adagios And Fugues (From Six Three-Voice Fugues) (K. 404A)

B1 Prelude And Fugue No. 1: Adagio; Fugue (Allegro)

B2 Prelude And Fugue No. 2: Adagio; Fugue (Andante)

Record Company – Columbia Records

Composed By – Schönberg (tracks: A1 to A4), Handel (tracks: A1 to A4), Bach (tracks: B1, B2), Mozart

(tracks: B1, B2)

Conductor – Werner Janssen

Orchestra – Janssen Symphony Orchestra Of Los Angeles

Strings – Manuel Compinsky Quartet (tracks: A1 to A4)

Matrix / Runout (A-Side Label): XLP 4806

Matrix / Runout (B-Side Label): XLP 4807

Matrix / Runout (A-Side Runout Etching): FXLP 4806 2A

Matrix / Runout (B-Side Runout Etching): FXLP 4807 2B

 

Violin Sonata, Op. 44 (Ernst Toch) with Sarah Compinsky (piano) (1928)

ALCO Records (Mono, Catalog # ALP 1025)

 

Prelude & Toccata for Violin & Piano (Matt Doran) Sarah Compinsky (piano) (1968)

This audio originates from a private archival studio master tape recorded at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, California.