Wilhelm Melcher (April 5, 1940 – March 5, 2005) was a German violinist. He is the founder of 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 t ...

Biography

Melcher was born in Hamburg, and studied there and in Rome. In 1962, he won the International Chamber Music Competition in Venice. In 1963, at the age of 23, he became the concertmaster of the

Hamburg Symphony Orchestra The Symphoniker Hamburg (''Hamburg Symphony Orchestra'') is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra in residence in the Laei ...

. He established a standing quartet with the brothers

Gerhard Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919– ...

and Hermann Voss, as well as cellist Peter Buck. The quartet was based in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, and remained together until Melcher's unexpected death on the eve of a planned farewell tour. Wilhelm Melcher played a violin by Carlo Bergonzi (1731).

References

1940 births 2005 deaths German violinists German male violinists Concertmasters 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German male musicians Male classical violinists Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{violinist-stub