Meyer Freistadt

Meyer Leo Freistadt was born on 9 November 1909 in New York City (USA). His parents were of Russian descent and emigrated to the USA in 1905 and 1907, respectively. The Freistadts were a musical family; the father himself, Jacob Freistadt, was a professional musician. They had four sons and a daughter, and most of them opted for a musical career. The oldest brother of Meyer Freistadt, Harry Freistadt, became a professional trumpeter and performed with Leroy Anderson and in Paul Taubman’s All-American Big Brass Band. His younger brother, Ancel Freistadt, also became a trumpeter and played in the CBS Symphony Orchestra.
It seems that Meyer Freistadt did not accept his “musical fate” and first studied psychology and guidance at Long Island University, New York University, and the City College of New York. During that time, he earned some money as a pianist with dance orchestras. At one of these events, he met Jack Zilbert, a former student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, who encouraged him to compose. Meyer Freistadt therefore also studied music at Long Island University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1932. He later took composition lessons with David Diamond and Henry Brant, but his main source of income became his position as a psychologist at the New York State Labor Department. His work as a composer was dedicated only to his leisure time.
Meyer Freistadt was a close friend of Sidney Powers, the conductor of the New Rochelle Symphony Orchestra, and therefore many of his compositions were premiered by this ensemble.
Meyer Freistadt died on 29 December 1986 in New York City (USA).

Meyer Freistadt composed a large work catalogue including 6 symphonies, concertos for piano, violin, cello and flute, several string quartets and chamber music. Notable works are the Violin sonata which was premiered 1957 by Yvette Rudin (violin) and the Symphony No.4 which is dedicated to the late Martin Luther King.

In my possession are autograph manuscripts to several compositions by Meyer Freistadt:

1) Three pictures by the Meyerowitz's

The composition "Three pictures by the Meyerowitz's" for piano op. 30 was composed in 1958. It consists of the three pieces 1. From the land of the Hora, 2. Talmudic scholars discourse and 3. Lifting of the Torah. The title of the work refers to the painter William "Bill" Meyerowitz and his paintings. The manuscript is also inscribed with "for Bill and Theresa" which again refers to Bill Meyerowitz and his wife Theresa Bernstein. On the title page of the manuscript is an additional  note that the work was composed for the Memorial Week, very likely an event in the Bronx (New York) because Meyer Freistadt lived there at this time.

2) Folk Medley

The "Folk Medley" op.48 was composed in 1978 and is scored for small orchestra. In my possession are both the full score as well as the piano reduction. The work was commissioned by Peter Compo, the conductor of the Westchester Senior Citizens Orchestra, and the ensemble premiered the work in early 1979.

3) Trio for oboe, viola and cello

The Trio for oboe, viola and cello was originally scored for oboe and piano and titled "Sonata No.4". It seems that Meyer Freistadt later decided to split the piano part into viola and cello. The work is dedicated to oboist Lois Wann and it is one of the most performed compositions by Meyer Freistadt. The premiere took place on 13 October 1955 at the Carnegie Recital Hall at a concert of the Composers Group of New York City. It was performed by Lois Wann (oboe), Edward Gerber (viola) and Edmund Baldini (cello). It received a second performance half a year later by the same performers and in 1957 at least a third performance at the Master Institute of United Arts by William Arrowsmith (oboe), John Di Janni (viola) and Yves Chardon (cello).

4) Sonata No.7

The Sonata No.7 op.23 was composed in 1956. I own the autograph working manuscript of the work and it is written down as a piano composition. But it seems that Meyer Freistadt later arranged this composition for string quartet. In this instrumentation it was performed on 4 February 1958 at the Barnard College in one of the "Polikoff Composer's Readings". Unfortunately no documents about this string quartet version are part of my manuscripts.



5) Leprechaun Suite

The Leprechaun Suite is oneo of Meyer Freistadt earliest compositions and dates from 1949. It seems that the work is scored for strings, piano and maybe some wind instruments, but unfortunately only the parts for the strings and piano have survived. Putting these parts into a full score makes visible that other instruments are missing, but it is unclear which and how many instruments.

Sidney Powers (left) and Meyer Freistadt discussing the score of the Symphony No.4 in 1969