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The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
in mixed
instrumentation
Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making.
Instrumentation can refer to ...
of
string instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...
s, wind instruments and others.
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
composed the chamber music for his ''
War Requiem
The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...
'' for the Melos Ensemble and conducted the group in the first performance in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
.
They should not be confused with two other chamber groups of similar name, the
Melos Quartet The Melos Quartet was a much-recorded, Stuttgart-based string quartet active from 1965 until 2005, when its first violin died. It also went by the name Melos Quartett Stuttgart, partly to distinguish itself from the equally prominent chamber group ...
or the Melos Art Ensemble (an Italian group).
Founding period, 1950
The Melos Ensemble was founded by musicians who wanted to play chamber music scored for a larger ensemble in a combination of strings, winds and other instruments with the quality of musical rapport only regular groups can achieve. The Melos Ensemble played in variable instrumentation, flexible enough to perform a wide repertory of pieces. All its members were excellent musicians who held positions in notable orchestras and appeared as soloists. The founding members, namely
Gervase de Peyer
Gervase Alan de Peyer (11 April 1926 – 4 February 2017) was an English clarinettist and conductor.
Professional career
Gervase Alan de Peyer was born in London, the eldest of three children of Everard Esmé Vivian de Peyer, and his wife, Edith ...
(clarinet),
Cecil Aronowitz
Cecil Aronowitz (4 March 19167 September 1978) was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.
...
(viola),
Richard Adeney
Richard Gilford Adeney (25 January 1920 – 16 December 2010) was a British flautist who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, was a soloist and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble. ...
(flute), and
Terence Weil
Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teache ...
(cello) planned a group of twelve players, a
string quintet
A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet" ...
and a
wind quintet
A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon).
Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...
with harp and piano, that might be expanded by other players, to perform the great
octets by
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
and
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
, the
septet
A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
by
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
, Ravel's ''
Introduction and Allegro'' and the ''Serenade'' by
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
.
[Melos Ensemble]
''All Music Guide'', Joseph Stevenson Neill Sanders (horn, a member for 29 years until 1979), and
Adrian Beers
Adrian Simon Beers MBE (6 January 1916 – 8 April 2004) was a British double bass player and teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. He was a principal player in the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Eng ...
(double bass) were members from the beginning. All these musicians stayed with the group for decades.
Early members
Other early members included Gervase de Peyer (first clarinet)
Emanuel Hurwitz
Emanuel Hurwitz (7 May 1919 – 19 November 2006) was a British violinist. He was born in London to parents of Russian-Jewish ancestry.
He started playing the violin when he was five years old, and took up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of ...
(leader 1956–1972),
Ivor McMahon
Ivor McMahon (1924–1972) was an English violinist. He played with notable orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra and is best known for playing second violin in the Melos Ensemble.
Career
In ...
(second violin),
William Waterhouse (bassoon),
Osian Ellis (harp),
James Blades
James Blades OBE (9 September 190119 May 1999) was an English percussionist.
He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with a long and varied career. His book ''Percussion Instruments and their History'' (1971) is a s ...
(percussion),
Lamar Crowson
John Lamar Crowson (May 27, 1926 – August 25, 1998) was an American concert pianist and a chamber musician.'' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (2009)
Crowson was born in Tampa, Florida. His early education was in Portland, Oregon, wit ...
and
Ernst Ueckermann
Ernst Ueckermann (born Estcourt in 1954) is a South African composer and pianist.
His formal music studies were conducted at the Johannesburg Art School, Royal College and Royal Academy of Music in London, the ''Musikhochschulen'' of Würzbur ...
(piano),
Peter Graeme
Graeme Peter Crump (1921 – 1 March 2012), known professionally as Peter Graeme and as 'Timmy' Crump to friends and family, was an English oboist and academic teacher. He was best known as the principal oboist of the Melos Ensemble.
Career
...
and
Sarah Barrington (oboe),
James Buck (horn),
Edgar Williams
Brigadier Sir Edgar Trevor Williams (20 November 1912 – 26 June 1995) was a British historian and Army military intelligence officer who played a significant role in the Second Battle of El Alamein in World War II. He was one of the few off ...
(bassoon) and
Keith Puddy (clarinet), expanded by
Colin Chambers (flute and piccolo),
Alan Hacker
Alan Ray Hacker (30 September 1938 – 16 April 2012) was an English clarinettist, conductor, and music professor.
Biography
He was born in Dorking, Surrey in 1938, the son of Kenneth and Sybil Hacker.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 1302, (A&C Bl ...
(bass clarinet),
Eric Roseberry (piano),
Leonard Friedman (violin),
Kay Hurwitz (viola),
William Bennett
William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...
(flute),
Stephen Pruslin (piano),
Leonard Friedman (violin),
Hilary Wilson (harp)
[Wardour Castle Summer School](_blank)
Concert programme 1965 and
Timothy Brown (horn). In the opinion of William Waterhouse (writing in 1995), "it was the remarkable rapport between this pair of lower strings" (i.e. Terence Weil and Cecil Aronowitz) "which remained constant throughout a succession of distinguished leaders, that gave a special distinction to this outstanding ensemble.", Obituary Gervase de Peyer"the Guardian"
Special projects
A remarkable premiere for the group was
Jacques-Louis Monod's 1962 presentation of
Roberto Gerhard
Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder (; 25 September 1896 – 5 January 1970) was a Spanish Catalan composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Roberto Gerhard.Malcolm MacDonald. 'Gerhard, Roberto' in ''Grove Music Onl ...
's ''Concerto for Eight''. This was followed by the 1962 premiere, and subsequent
1963 recording, of
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
's ''
War Requiem
The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...
'', for which the instrumental sections accompanying the English texts had been written specifically for the Melos, and were directed by the composer in the performance. The recording received a
Grammy Hall of Fame Award
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
in 1998. In 1964 and 1965 the Melos Ensemble played several concerts at the new ''Wardour Castle Summer School'', founded by
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
,
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
and
Alexander Goehr
Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic.
Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...
.
[Wardour 1964 1965](_blank)
Dr. Michael Hooper, 2009 On 16 August 1964 they played among others ''
Monody for Corpus Christi'' by Birtwistle, ''Five Little Pieces'' (first performance) by Davies, and ''Suite'' Op.11 by Goehr. A chamber concert on 17 August featured the
Horn Trio Horn trio can mean a work written for three horns or horns as well as one for horn and two other instruments. In the latter category, an important genre is the trio for horn, violin and piano. Although there are a few earlier examples, the traditi ...
by Brahms, on 18 August the ''
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
''Quatuor pour la fin du temps'' (), originally ''Quatuor de la fin du temps'' ("''Quartet of the End of Time''"), also known by its English title ''Quartet for the End of Time'', is an eight-movement piece of chamber music by the French composer ...
'' by Messiaen. In 1965, the Melos Ensemble played on 16 August ''
Pierrot Lunaire
''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a me ...
'' by Schoenberg. On 18 August parts of ''In Chymick Art'', a cantata on texts by
Edward Benlowes that
Robin Holloway
Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer.
Early life
Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...
wrote for the Summer School, were performed for the first time. On 20 August they premiered two works they had commissioned, ''Tragoedia'' by Birtwistle, conducted by
Lawrence Foster
Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and th ...
, and two 'In Nomine" of ''Seven in Nomine'' by Davies, conducted by the composer.
Festivals, broadcasts, tours
The Melos Ensemble performed regularly at British and International Festivals, among others Warsaw, Venice, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Bordeaux and the
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
History of the Aldeburgh Festival
Th ...
, their first US tour was in 1966. The group gave many
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcasts, and made over 50 recordings, first with the publisher L'Oiseau-Lyre. Gervase de Peyer directed the extensive recording programme of the Ensemble for
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
.
[Melos Ensemble – Music among Friends](_blank)
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
EMI recordings 1963–1973
*
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
,
Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
,
Weber and
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...
Quintets
*Mozart and
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
, Piano and Wind Quintets
*
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
,
Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
; Beethoven,
Septet
A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
and
Octet for Winds
*
Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
, ''Fairy Tales'', ''Fantasy Pieces''
*
Berwald, Septet;
Nielsen,
Wind Quintet
A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon).
Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...
*
Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
, ''
Introduction and Allegro'' for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet
*
Françaix, Divertissement;
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
, Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon
*
Bartók,
Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
and
Khatchaturian, Trios
*
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...
, ''
Overture on Hebrew Themes''
*
Janáček, ''Concertino'', ''Mládí''
*
John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...
, Sextet, Trios, Sonatas
EMI reissued in 2011 a selection from historical recordings, titled "Melos Ensemble – Music among Friends". The principal players were Richard Adeney (and William Bennett, flute), Gervase de Peyer (and Keith Puddy, clarinet), Peter Graeme (and Sarah Barrington, oboe), Neil Sanders (and James Buck, horn), William Waterhouse (and Edgar Williams, bassoon), Emanuel Hurwitz (and
Kenneth Sillito
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a b ...
, first violin), Ivor McMahon (and Iona Brown, second violin), Cecil Aronowitz (and Kenneth Essex, viola), Terence Weil (and Keith Harvey, cello), Adrian Beers (double bass), Osian Ellis (harp) and Lamar Crowson (piano).
The ensemble was expanded for single works by
Christopher Hyde-Smith (flute), Anthony Jennings and Stephen Trier (bass clarinet),
Barry Tuckwell
Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell, (5 March 1931 – 16 January 2020) was an Australian French horn player who spent most of his professional life in the UK and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn p ...
(horn),
David Mason and
Philip Jones (trumpet), Arthur Wilson and Alfred Flaszinski (trombone), Robert Masters (violin),
Manoug Parikian
Manoug Parikian (15 September 1920 - 24 December 1987) was a British concert violinist and violin professor.
Early life
Parikian was born in Mersin to Armenian parents. He studied in London.
Career
Parikian made his solo début in 1947 and led ...
and Eli Goren (violin),
Patrick Ireland (viola),
Derek Simpson (cello), Hilary Wilson (harp), Marcal Gazelle (piano),
James Blades
James Blades OBE (9 September 190119 May 1999) was an English percussionist.
He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with a long and varied career. His book ''Percussion Instruments and their History'' (1971) is a s ...
,
Tristan Fry
Tristan Frederick Allan Fry (born 25 October 1946, London) is a British drummer and percussionist.
Career
Fry began his career by joining the London Philharmonic Orchestra as a timpanist at the age of 17. He was a founder member of a number of en ...
, Jack Lees and Stephen Whittaker (percussion), and singers Mary Thomas (soprano) and Rosemary Phillips (contralto).
The collection of 11 CDs contains the works for large ensemble – six to thirteen players – for which the Melos Ensemble was founded, some composed for the ensemble:
*Beethoven: Septet, Octet
*Mendelssohn:
Octet
Octet may refer to:
Music
* Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble
** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments
*** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compos ...
*Schubert: Octet
*
Franz Berwald
Franz Adolf Berwald (23 July 1796 – 3 April 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer. He made his living as an orthopedist and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory, and became more appreciated as a composer after his death than he ...
: Septet
*
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...
: Double Quartet
*Janáček: ''
Mládí'', ''
Concertino''
*Ravel: ''
Introduction and Allegro''
*
Jean Françaix
Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French neoclassicism (music), neoclassical composer, piano, pianist, and orchestration, orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.
...
: ''Divertissement'' for Bassoon and String Quintet
*
Nikos Skalkottas
Nikos Skalkottas ( el, Νίκος Σκαλκώτας; 21 March 1904 – 19 September 1949) was a Greek composer of 20th-century classical music. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repert ...
: Octet
*
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
: Overture on Hebrew Themes
*Louis Spohr: Octet
*
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...
: ''Calendar''
*
Gordon Crosse
Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer.
Biography
Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...
: ''Concerto Da Camera''
*
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''Tragoedia''
*
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
: ''Leopardi Fragments''
Other selected recordings
*
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer.
Biography
Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...
: Sextet for clarinet, horn and string quartet (1954)
*
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...
: Guitar Concerto, with
Julian Bream
Julian Alexander Bream (15 July 193314 August 2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public per ...
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
(1959)
*
Mátyás Seiber
Mátyás György Seiber (; 4 May 190524 September 1960) was a Hungarian-born British composer who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1935 onwards. His work linked many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartó ...
: Three Fragments from ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'', a Chamber Cantata for Speaker, Chorus and Eight Instruments, with
Peter Pears
Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years.
Pears' musical career started ...
(Speaker) / Dorian Singers / Melos Ensemble London conducted by Matyas Seiber (1960)
*
Mauro Giuliani
Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century.
Biography
Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's cent ...
: Guitar Concerto, with Julian Bream (1961)
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
*Schoenberg: Serenade,
John Carol Case
John Carol Case (27 April 192328 December 2012) was an English baritone.
Early life
Case was born in Salisbury, England. Awarded a choral scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, he graduated with MA and BMus degrees.
Early career
One of Engla ...
,
Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer.
Life
Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s th ...
, L'Oiseau-Lyre (1962)
*Britten: ''War Requiem'' (1963)Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) / War Requiem musicweb-international.com
*
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...
: Quintet in G minor for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass, Op. 39 /
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
: Piano Quintet, Op. 57
*
Hummel: Septet / Quintet (1966) (L'oiseau-Lyre)
*
Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
and
Maurice Delage
Maurice Charles Delage (13 November 1879 – 19 or 21 September 1961) was a French composer and pianist.
Biography
Delage was born and died in Paris. He first worked as a clerk for a maritime agency in Paris, and later as a fishmonger in Boul ...
: French Songs /
Chausson: Chanson Perpetuelle, with
Janet Baker
Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...
(1966)
*Ravel: Introduction and Allegro /
Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano / Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon / Francaix: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon / Divertissement for Bassoon and String Quartet EMI (196
Ravel/Poulenc/Francaix : Vinyl CDs & more At Shakedown Records Shakedown Records
Melos Ensemble of London 1974
Following the death of Ivor McMahon in 1972, and the departure of three other members, the group briefly disbanded in 1973, but was reformed in 1974 with eight of the original players.
In the later period the following musicians were also among those playing for the ensemble:
Hugh Maguire (violin),
Thea King
Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM (26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British clarinettist.
Biography
Early life
Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of his family engine ...
(clarinet, 1974–1993),
Nicholas Ward (violin, from 1977),
Sylvie Gazeau (principal violin for many years),
Gwenneth Pryor (piano),
Iona Brown
Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor.
Early life and education
Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were ...
(violin),
Patrick Ireland (viola) and
Keith Harvey
William Keith Harvey (25 December 1934 – October 2018) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half.
Career
Born in Crediton, Harvey played for Crediton United and Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a profess ...
(cello). In 1975 the Melos Ensemble presented its 25th anniversary concert in London. In 1982 the Melos Ensemble appeared in Graz in a retrospective of
Egon Wellesz
Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.
Early life and education in Vienna
Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...
, playing his ''Oktett für Klarinette, Fagott, Horn und Streichquintett'' Op.67.
Program Archive
ORF
ORF or Orf may refer to:
* Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF
* Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute
* One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel
* Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
(in German)
New chamber music
Composers created music for unusual groupings with the Melos Ensemble specifically in mind, leading in turn to the formation of similar chamber groups. Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...
composed ''Kammermusik 1958'' for tenor, guitar and eight solo instruments, for example. In that way, the Melos Ensemble has directly and indirectly influenced music for new combinations of chamber musicians in contemporary music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...
.
Publications
* Entries to the Melos Ensemble in ''allmusic''br>Entries to the Melos Ensemble in WorldCat
Reviews in Gramophone Archive
References
External links
website, history of the Melos Ensemble
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melos Ensemble
Chamber music groups
Musical groups established in 1950
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
English classical music groups
Musical groups from London
Contemporary classical music ensembles
1950 establishments in England