Edwin Finckel
Encyclopedia
Edwin A. Finckel was a jazz performer and arranger and a composer of songs and classical music.
Finckel was well regarded for his ability to improvise music and he went on to arrange others and later compose over 200 of his own melodies. He was appearing professionally as a teenager and he went on to introduce string instruments into his arrangement for big bands. His best known song may be Where is the One which was recorded by Frank Sinatra
on his Where Are You? album.
Finckel wrote songs for the 1945 film George White's Scandals
The photo illustrated here
shows Finckel posing for a magazine picture where he has been chosen as a representative of the musical "Modern School" in 1947. He went into teaching where he led the music department of the private Far Brook School
in New Jersey
for 39 years. The school also employed his wife, Helen, as a secretary. Finckel continued to perform Jazz but in his forties he also wrote classical music. His son David was a professional cellist who performed and recorded his father's composition for piano and cello Of Human Kindness with his wife Wu Han
.
His wife, Helen, and Finckel ran a summer camp for 17 years until 1980. The camp was called "Point Counter Point" and it continued under new management after the couple gave up that commitment. He retired in 1990 and died in 2001.
Biography
Finckel was born in Washington D.C. as the youngest of six children. His father was a patent attorney and both his parents were musical. All of his five elder siblings received musical training but Edwin was left to his own devices with regard to music, but his artistic talents won him a scholarship at the Corcoran School of Art. He didn't give up his interest in art but he also found access to a piano and within a year he had taught himself to play, albeit unconventionally and without the ability to read music. Finckel took to jazz although he also showed skill as a tennis player while still a teenager.Finckel was well regarded for his ability to improvise music and he went on to arrange others and later compose over 200 of his own melodies. He was appearing professionally as a teenager and he went on to introduce string instruments into his arrangement for big bands. His best known song may be Where is the One which was recorded by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
on his Where Are You? album.
Finckel wrote songs for the 1945 film George White's Scandals
George White's Scandals (film)
George White's Scandals is a 1945 American film starring Joan Davis and Jack Haley. The film included music by Edwin Finckel....
The photo illustrated here
Eddie Sauter
Edward Ernest Sauter was a composer and jazz arranger who achieved renown among musicians during the swing era.-Biography:...
shows Finckel posing for a magazine picture where he has been chosen as a representative of the musical "Modern School" in 1947. He went into teaching where he led the music department of the private Far Brook School
Far Brook School
Far Brook School is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational day school located in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey, United States, serving students in nursery through eighth grade....
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
for 39 years. The school also employed his wife, Helen, as a secretary. Finckel continued to perform Jazz but in his forties he also wrote classical music. His son David was a professional cellist who performed and recorded his father's composition for piano and cello Of Human Kindness with his wife Wu Han
Wu Han (Pianist)
Wu Han is a Chinese-American pianist, and influential figure in the classical music world. Leading an unusually multifaceted career, she has risen to international prominence through her wide-ranging activities as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural...
.
His wife, Helen, and Finckel ran a summer camp for 17 years until 1980. The camp was called "Point Counter Point" and it continued under new management after the couple gave up that commitment. He retired in 1990 and died in 2001.