currently being composed as of December 2016. In his own words, Fredric Kroll construes himself as a practitioner, not as a theoretician. When he started composing “The Scarlet Letter” in earnest in 1961, Robert Ward's neither musically or nor dramatically dissimilar opera “The Crucible” was premiered with success. It was not until 1964 in Freiburg that Kroll realized that the tonal and melodic Late Romantic music still today dear to his heart was considered to be obsolete and anachronistic. Kroll feels that writing only dissonances that never resolve is tantamount to an attempt to inhale without ever exhaling, to eat hot spices without meat or vegetables. To those who might reproach Kroll's music with “ escapism,” he replies that his compositions are not escapist at all, but replete with deep despair over the human condition, and that he feels it to be his mission to communicate to people imbued with compassion, to people to whom “just wanting to have fun” is alien in a world full of suffering, that they are not alone with their sorrows and their burdens. Compositions Symphony in g-minor, 1959 The Scarlet Letter, Opera in 4 Acts, 1965, World premiere 1981 in Cape Coral, Florida and German language premiere 2014 in Hamburg Lieder aus der Einsamkeit, 7 Songs for Soprano or Tenor and Piano after texts by Goethe, Büchner, and Kroll, 1966, premiere 1982 in Wiesbaden Romance in d-minor for Violin and Piano, 1969 Frantumi, 8 songs in Italian language for mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano after texts by Loyzelle and Kroll, 1969 Kerzenglut (Candlelight) in d-minor for Violoncello and Piano, 1970 Sieben Lieder (7 Songs) for voice and piano after texts by Clemens Brentano and Stefan George, 1972 Die traurigsten Verse (Los versos mas tristes), 19 songs for voice and piano, 1970-2006, after texts by Neruda, Goethe, Rausch, Fehse, Scheer, Roessler, and Aumeier White Nights, Opera in 3 Acts, 2017 External links Excerpts from "The Scarlet Letter" by Fredric Kroll Fredric Kroll Youtube videos Frantumi performed by Elisabeth Kulmann and Eduard Kutrowatz "Den ungeborenen Enkeln" #7 from "Sieben Lieder", text C. Bretano (1986) "Rosettalied" #6 from "Lieder aus der Einsamkeit" Badische Zeitung -PORTRÄT: Fredric Kroll und seine Oper "The Scarlet Letter" Die Kammeroper „Der scharlachrote Buchstabe“ feiert umjubelte Uraufführung im Allee Theater mittelloge.de „Der scharlachrote Buchstabe“, – 17. Mai 2014 Ed. Detlef Grumbach. Treffpunkt im Unendlichen: Fredric Kroll - Ein Leben für Klaus Mann. Hamburg: