Géza Frid left Hungary for good in 1929, where he had received his musical training from his teachers Kodaly (composition) and Bartok (piano). He was increasingly exposed to the repression of Miklós Horthy's fascist, anti-Jewish regime. He settled in the Netherlands at the invitation of his friend and violinist Zoltán Székely. As a stateless Jew, however, he once again had to fear deportation and extermination in Holland and was unable to perform in public during the Nazi occupation. It was only after the Second World War that he was granted Dutch citizenship in 1948 and was finally able to lead a free musical life as a pianist and composer. He became one of Holland's leading contemporary composers. In 1989, at the age of 85, he died in a tragic fire accident in an old people's home. Since his escape from Hungary, he remained in contact with Bartok, Kodaly and the Hungarian music scene, but as a composer he was also influenced by Debussy, Ravel and neoclassicism. For a long time he was one of the most frequently performed composers in Holland, but the development of music in the post-war period increasingly made him one of the many forgotten composers. Only recently has the quality of his music been rediscovered.

The oeuvre of this "Hungarian Dutchman" comprises more than 100 works. Frid's son, Arthur Frid, commented on the style of Géza Frid's diverse compositions: he had "a pronounced rhythmic sense", he often used contrasts and possessed "a melodic imagination that is firmly rooted in the music and folklore of his homeland".

One of his most successful works was the Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra, composed in 1952. Everything is determined by the two: two violins, two movements with an introduction, each with two themes, based on two musical traditions, the Dutch and the Hungarian-Romanian, and yet the work has an astonishing unity. After the premiere, the Algemeen Handelsblad wrote: The concerto is ‘a composition that finds its way to the listener's heart thanks to its simple structure and accessible themes.’ One could add: Like some of Ravel's pieces, it combines musical modernity with rhythmically captivating directness.

Géza Frid himself introduced his concert with the following words: «The work owes its creation to the Hungarian-American conductor Antal Dorati who, struck by the exceptional unity of vision and style of Herman Krebbers and Theo Olof, proclaimed his amazement that no Dutch composer had as yet seized the opportunity to compose a concerto for the unique duo. Everything, remarkably enough, is doubled in this concerto: there are two soloists and also two movements, each being preceded by an introduction. Both movements contain two principal themes and each movement concludes with a coda in which the two themes are combined. The first movement (Andantino pastorale) is written in sonata form and contains nostalgic flowing lines; the second movement (Allegro molto) is in total contrast, with Romanian and Hungarian folk elements – youthful memories from Maramures, the region of my birth. The quoted music it contains can be regarded as a rhapsodic adventure in the past” (Géza Frid).

Listen here:
Movement 1
Movement 2

Listening companion:

A concerto for 3 identical instruments offers extraordinary compositional challenges. If in a double concerto a phrase of one instrument can be repeated by the other without further ado, repeating it three times could become quite boring. Exactly the opposite was the result in Frid's music, whose rhythmic energy is captivating without missing the opportunity of a special sound clyric of three violins merging into one another.
In 1969 Frid wrote his Concerto for three violins and orchestra, opus 78, for Emmy Verhey and the brothers Christiaan and Dick Bor: ‘Unique in the literature of violin concertos’, as Wouter Paap wrote in Mens & Melodie, April 1970.

The work consists of 4 movements that flow into each other without interruption. Before listening, it is worth reading the programme note that Géza Frid wrote on the occasion of the premiere of the 4 movements:

"Pesante: a motoric, driving movement in consistently sustained 5/8 time, in free form, more motivic than thematic, with shrill dissonances, almost without rest points.
Improvisando: (the orchestra is reduced to winds, harp and percussion, the strings are silent) very unstable in form, this section offers the soloists the opportunity to show their own character in short cadenza-like passages. Some orchestral instruments are also given solo moments here, such as the two clarinets at the beginning, later the bassoons, trombones, tuba and finally the two oboes.
The 3rd movement is a great contrast to this. Grazioso: a kind of scherzo with flashing perpetuum mobile-like solo parts, accompanied by strings, harp and percussion (wind accent). The percussion instruments are joined here by a metronome, which sets the taut, almost mechanically driving tempo in some bars at the beginning and end.
In the 4th movement Giusto, the entire orchestra is used again. This is the most traditional part of the concerto, both in terms of form and harmonic structure. The concise main theme and the wistful second theme are clearly recognisable, as are a kind of development, the recapitulation, the cadenza for 3 violins (which forms an expressive oasis in the piece instead of the expected virtuoso fireworks), a fugato (begun by the clarinets) and the coda. The tonal texture is also predominant: G major at the beginning and end, albeit with the addition of the major seventh (F sharp). - Géza Frid"

Listen here!

Listening companion:

  ‘...This work, consisting of four interconnected movements, was created in close collaboration with the three soloists, whose parts thus came into their own: virtuosic, shrill and exuberant in a catchy style of playing that is characteristic of Frid. ...’ 
(Rogier Starreveld, Het Parool, 20 Oct. 1970.)

‘... a real musician. Someone with verve and bravura, who doesn't pay attention to one note more or less, and with the same aplomb the soloists bring the piece energetically and lively into the hall. ... ’
(H.J.M. Muller, De Telegraaf, 20 October 1970.)

‘... The important orchestral part has the sometimes penetrating, sometimes lyrical character that this music needs. The piece was very successful. Soloists, composer and conductor Leo Driehuis were called back several times. ...’
(Wouter Paap, De Waarheid, 23 October 1970.)

‘... The power of Frid's music lies in its concise rhythm and exciting rhythmic contrasts. Like his teachers, Frid also made use of Hungarian folklore. His music is lively and dynamic. This makes his pieces very lively. In addition, everything is very well thought out compositionally. Frid was one of the few composers who really mastered their craft. His work was therefore very successful during his lifetime.’
(Christiaan Bor, violinist and performer of the world premiere)