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Melos Ensemble
The Melos Ensemble is a group of musicians who started in 1950 in London to play chamber music in mixed instrumentation of string instruments, wind instruments and others. Benjamin Britten composed the chamber music for his ''War Requiem'' for the Melos Ensemble and conducted the group in the first performance in Coventry. They should not be confused with two other chamber groups of similar name, the Melos Quartet 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 (clarinet) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamber Music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers, with one performer to a part (in contrast to orchestral music, in which each string part is played by a number of performers). However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances. Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as "the music of friends". For more than 100 years, chamber music was played primarily by amateur musicians in their homes, and even today, when chamber music performance has migrated from the home to the concert hall, many musicians, amateur and professional, still play chamber music for their own pleasure. Playing chamber music requires special skills, both musical and social, that differ from the skills required for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the Transition from Classical to Romantic music, transition from the Classical period (music), Classical period to the Romantic music, Romantic era. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterised as heroic. During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly Hearing loss, deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Born in Bonn, Beethoven displayed his musical talent at a young age. He was initially taught intensively by his father, Johann van Bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Peter Graeme studied the oboe with Léon Goossens.Bliss. Clarinet Quintet. Oboe Quintet. Melos Ensemble Graeme was the oboist of the |
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 Würzburg and Freiburg, Germany, with Professors Kirsti Hjort, Bertold Hummel and Helmut Barth. He has participated in numerous master classes with members of the Melos Ensemble, Brahms Trio, Moscow piano trio and some of the world's foremost pianists. His pianistic career gained momentum during his student years and culminated in a busy international career. Concerts and recordings have been done in many capitals all over the globe as soloist, with diverse chamber music ensembles and as accompanist. Compact disks, radio productions and Television concerts have also been produced for amongst other; the Bavarian Broadcasting Company, West German Radio and Television, Swiss Radio (Zuerich), Rádio Portugal, Azores Television, Korean Television, Adv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, with noted pedagogue Nellie Tholen, where he attended Reed College (1943–1948), majoring in art, history and literature.Obituary Lamar Crowson '''', Ruth Thackeray, September 10, 1998 He later studied piano under , who invited him to study at the |
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 standard reference work on the subject.Michael Skinner, ''In Memoriam: James Blades OBE'', Percussive Arts Society, 1999 Retrieved August 8, 2007. Blades was born in in 1901.Nick Ravo, "James Blades Is Dead at 97; a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osian Ellis
Osian Gwynn Ellis (8 February 1928 – 5 January 2021) was a Welsh harpist, composer and teacher. He was principal harpist of the London Symphony Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble and a Professor of harp at the Royal Academy of Music. Many composers wrote music for him. From 1959 onwards, Ellis had a close professional partnership with Benjamin Britten that lasted to the latter's death. He was often first to perform and record Britten's works. Career Osian Gwynn Ellis was born in Ffynnongroew, Flintshire, in 1928, the son of the Rev. Tomos Ellis, a Welsh Methodist minister, and his wife Jenny (née Lewis), a harpist, and spent the first four years of his life at Llys Myfr on Llinegr Hill. As a boy Ellis was obsessed with playing the harp and playing football. In 2018 he recalled: "I chose the harp because we had one at home. My mother, Jennie, was a good amateur harpist. We did spend some years living in Denbigh and I was the goalkeeper for Denbigh Coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Waterhouse (bassoonist)
William Waterhouse (18 February 1931 – 5 November 2007) was an English bassoonist and musicology, musicologist. He played with notable orchestras, was a member of the Melos Ensemble, professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, author of the ''Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide "Bassoon"'', of ''The New Langwill Index'', and contributor to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Biography and career as a performer Born in London, Waterhouse studied at the Royal College of Music, specifically the bassoon with Archie Camden, viola with Cecil Aronowitz, and harmony with the composer Gordon Jacob. From 1953 to 1955, he was second bassoonist in the orchestra of the Royal Opera, London, Royal Opera at Covent Garden at the time of Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, and Kirsten Flagstad. Later he stated that his most valuable lessons in phrasing were actually learned playing in the pit while accompanying opera singers. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 1947 McMahon was the first recipient of the Eda Kersey Memorial Exhibition, established after the death of Eda Kersey to assist a gifted young violinist each year. He played with the Philharmonia Orchestra from 1952, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. In 1955 he took part in the orchestra's tour of the United States, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Ivor McMahon played second violin in the Melos Ensemble and participated with the group in the premiere of the ''War Requiem'' by Benjamin Britten, conducted by the composer. As a member of the English Chamber Orchestra he took part in Britten's chamber operas ''Albert Herring'' and ''Noye's Fludde''. With violinist Emanuel Hurwitz and harpsichordist Charles Spinks he recorded concertos of Charl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Music at the age of 14; he was much later a professor there. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps playing the violin in Stars in Battledress. In 1946, he founded the Hurwitz String Quartet. In 1948 he became leader of the English Chamber Orchestra when it was foundedat that time known as the Goldsbrough Orchestra. He was principal violinist of the Melos Ensemble 1956-1972. Their recordings of chamber music for both woodwinds and strings were reissued in 2011, including the works for larger ensembles which were the reason to found the ensemble, such as Beethoven's Septet and Octet, Schubert's Octet and Ravel's '' Introduction and Allegro'', played with Osian Ellis (harp), Richard Adeney (flute), Gervase d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 English Chamber Orchestra, and a chamber musician, notably in the Melos Ensemble that he helped found. Career Beers was born in Glasgow on 6 January 1916, the son of double bass player Aloysius "Wishy" Beers. He attended Bellahouston Academy and studied the cello, piano and double bass with his father. Deputising for him as a player in music halls, then the dominant form of popular entertainment in Britain, he gained early experience and repertoire. He won a ''Caird Scholarship'' to study at the Royal College of Music in London with Claude Hobday, where he also studied composition with Herbert Howells. He made a living by playing in the Gaiety Theatre and later the London Casino. After the war he was a member of the newly formed Philha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Draper (musician)
Charles Draper (23 October 1869 – 21 October 1952) was an English classical clarinettist, sometimes described as the "grandfather of English clarinettists". Born into a musical family, he studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London under Henry Lazarus and Julian Egerton. He co-founded the New Symphony Orchestra in 1905, and had long associations with the orchestras of the Royal Philharmonic Society, and the Leeds and Three Choirs festivals. Draper was a well-known teacher, a professor at the RCM, Trinity College of Music, Kneller Hall and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Life and career Early years Charles Draper was born on 23 October 1869 in Odcombe, Somerset. His father Samuel – the village carpenter and an amateur cellist – and his wife Hannah ( Rodber) had a large family. Charles was the eighth and youngest son. Samuel died in 1888 and the family came under the guardianship of the second-oldest son, Paul. They moved to Penarth in South Wales, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
