Franz Friedl

Franz R. Friedl, also under the pseudonym Jacques Renée (born May 30, 1892 in Oberkappel, Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary; died December 5, 1977 in Essen), was an Austrian violist, composer, and conductor. A child prodigy on the violin, Friedl studied his instrument under Carl Flesch and composing under Hugo Kaun in Berlin. As a teenager, he already went on international tours as a violin virtuoso. In 1914, he became concert master with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Dortmund. From 1916-1923, he held the same position in Dresden. Between 1923 and 1926, he worked as solo viola player at the most important opera house of Latin America, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From 1921, Friedl had started composing film music. Plagued by persistent inflammation in his wrist since his teenage years, he retired from active playing in 1926 and became a free-lance composer and conductor. He conducted Berlin's radio orchestra, the Rundfunkorchester Berlin, and wrote music for more than 30 films between 1921 and 1958, ranging from documentary shorts to full-length feature films such as "Schloß Hubertus (1934), "Flitterwochen" (1936), "Der Edelweißkönig" (1939), "Das Ekel" (1939), and Nazi propaganda films such as "Jud Süß" (1940) and "Der Kampf um Norwegen". Propaganda minister Josef Goebbels was so impressed with Friedl's style that he appointed him "Sachbearbeiter für Musik" for the weekly news show, the "Wochenschau," in 1942. In this function, Friedl created the "Wochenschau's" typical sound, which Goebbels characterized as "steely romanticism." In August 1944, he was included in the so-called "Gottbegnadeten-Liste," a list of "irreplaceable" artists that the Nazi government considered particularly important. After the war, Friedl continued to write film music, but now for the East German DEFA.