Walter Andreas Dullo (26 November 1902 – 22 August 1978) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

musicologist and lawyer who migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where he became best known as a chocolate maker. He also continued his musical activities there, and was a co-founder of both Musica Viva Australia (with

Richard Goldner Richard Goldner (23 June 1908 – 27 September 1991) was a Romanian-born, Viennese-trained Australian violist, pedagogue and inventor. He founded Musica Viva Australia in 1945, which became the world's largest entrepreneurial chamber music organ ...

) and FM radio station

2MBS 2MBS Fine Music Sydney (ACMA callsign: 2MBS) is a Sydney music radio station operated by the Music Broadcasting Society of New South Wales Co-Operative Limited. Launched on 15 December 1974, it is Australia's first fully licensed FM radio stati ...

Career

Walter Dullo was born in Königsberg,

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He studied mathematics at the Humboldt University of Berlin 1921-24, music at the University of Heidelberg 1925-28, and law back at Humboldt 1929-33. Being prevented by the Nazi government from practising law because his mother was Jewish, he learned the art of chocolate making. He married in Berlin in June 1937, and in September he and his wife travelled by ship to Australia.''Australian Dictionary of Biography''
Retrieved 22 December 2017 In 1939 the Dullos opened a small shop in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of ...

, where they sold their home-made chocolate truffles. He was classified as a refugee alien during World War II, and was sent to work at

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. He became a British subject in 1944. The chocolate business resumed after the war, and became well-known but always stayed at its modest home. Dullo retired in 1970. Dullo Fine Chocolates continues to this day, in a different location.

Musical activities

In 1945, along with

, Dullo co-founded Musica Viva Australia, which had its first concert on 8 December 1945, and went on to become the world's largest

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 ...

organisation. The inaugural concert included Dullo's arrangement for string orchestra of

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 ...

's Fantasy No. 1 in F minor for Mechanical Organ. He was also vice-president of the Sydney Mozart Society and correspondent of the Salzburg Mozarteum. In the 1960s he reconstructed and completed five piano sonatas by Franz Schubert.David Garrett, "A tale of fine music and chocolate"
Retrieved 22 December 2017NLA Trove
Retrieved 22 December 2017 These have been recorded by

Romola Costantino Romola Helen Louise Costantino, Mrs Enyi (14 September 1930November 1988) was a noted Australian pianist, accompanist and teacher, who also worked as a music, film and theatre critic. Biography Costantino was the daughter of Napoleone Costantin ...

and Geoffrey Saba. He also wrote

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...

s for Mozart piano concertos, and wrote program notes for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, Musica Viva and the Mozart Society, and articles for music publications. Along with Trevor Jarvie and others, Dullo founded Australia's first

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

station, 2MBS (now called

Fine Music 102.5 2MBS Fine Music Sydney (ACMA callsign: 2MBS) is a Sydney music radio station operated by the Music Broadcasting Society of New South Wales Co-Operative Limited. Launched on 15 December 1974, it is Australia's first fully licensed FM radio stati ...

), which began broadcasting on 15 December 1974. He helped devise programs, and lent the station many records from his extensive private collection. In 1977 he was appointed to the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Walter Andreas Dullo collapsed at the offices of 2MBS on 22 August 1978, and died at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dullo, Walter 1902 births 1978 deaths Australian musicologists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Australia Confectioners Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Musicians from Königsberg 20th-century German musicologists Businesspeople from Sydney