Eugen Müller-Dombois (15 November 1931 – 9 May 2014) was a German

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

and music teacher. He was a pioneer in the revival of the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

and

early music revival An early music revival is a renewed interest in music from ancient history or prehistory. The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when Eu ...

Biography

He was born in Bethel, Germany, on 15 November 1931 to Georg Müller, a well-known educator and Johanna Dombois. He was the second of four brothers and two sisters (both of whom died in childhood).Lute News No.111 October 2014 p.24-25 After training as a secondary school teacher (German, music), he studied lute and guitar with

Walter Gerwig Walter Gerwig (26 November 1899 – 9 July 1966) was an influential German lutenist, choral conductor and composer. He was one of the pioneers in the revival of early music revival and historical performance practice. He was also a choral conduct ...

at Musichochschule in Cologne from 1955 to 1958. Subsequently, he became a lecturer at the Northwest German Music Academy Detmold Hochschule für Musik Detmold and began at the same time a successful international career as a concert artist. He had a solo career as well as playing in ensembles such as the Leonhardt Consort directed by

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

and Concentus Musicus of Vienna directed by

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...

Career

An impairment of his arm ( neurotmesis of the nerve in his right arm)LSA Quarterly XLVIX No.1 Spring 2014 forced him to give up his concert career in 1977. In 1962 he was appointed by

Paul Sacher Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessman. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...

to the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that hav ...

and taught there until his retirement in 1996. Along with German lutenists Michael Schäffer (lutenist) and

, many of the top lutenists from the 1970s to the present studied with him at the Schola. He died 9 May 2014 near Basel, Switzerland. He left a wife and a daughter. His students include Toyohiko Satoh, Manuel Morais,

Hopkinson Smith Hopkinson Smith (born December 7, 1946) is a Swiss- American lutenist and pedagogue, longtime resident in Basel, Switzerland. Smith was born in New York City, the son of architectural writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. He graduated fr ...

, Robert Strizich, Catherine Liddel, Jürgen Hübscher,

Paul O'Dette Paul Raymond O'Dette (born February 2, 1954) is an American lutenist, conductor, and musicologist specializing in early music. Biography O'Dette, who was born in Pittsburgh, began playing the electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, ...

Rolf Lislevand Rolf Lislevand (30 December 1961), is a Norwegian performer of Early music specialising on lute, vihuela, baroque guitar and theorbo. Biography Lislevand was born in Oslo. From 1980 to 1984, he studied classical guitar at the Norwegian Academy ...

, Karl-Ernst Schröder, Robert Barto, Joachim Held, Peter Croton, Christina Pluhar, Anthony Bailes, Brian Feehan, Ray Nurse, Andreas Martin, Donna Curry inter alia.

Discography

* "Lachrimae Or Seaven Teares" – RCA Victrola 1968 * Lautenmusik Der Renaissance" – Electrola 1970 * Ludwig Senfl – Wally Staempfli, Kurt Huber Und Fritz Näf, Eugen M. Dombois, Ricercare-Ensemble Für Alte Musik, Zürich, Michel Piguet – Deutsche Lieder, Die Stimme Seines Herrn 1972 * Weiss* / Kellner* / Bach* – Die BarockLaute I / The Baroque Lute I / Le Luth Baroque I, Philips 1973 * Bach* / Conradi* / Weiss* – The Baroque Lute II / Die Barocklaute II / Le Luth Baroque II Philips 1973 * Weiss* / Kellner* / Bach* / Conradi* – Die Barocklaute I und II / The Baroque Lute I and II / Le Luth Baroque I et II RCA Red Seal RL 30385 1980 * David Kellner, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Gottfried Conradi, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, – The Baroque Lute – (CD) Seon SBK 60372 1998 * Eugen M. Dombois – Music For Maximlian: Sounds Of The Renaissance Court Of The Holy Roman Empire * Johannes Brenneke, Eugen Müller-Dombois*, Fritz Wunderlich, Theo Altmeyer, RIAS Chamber Choir* – Music For Maximlian: Sounds Of The Renaissance Court Of The Holy Roman Empire (LP) Angel Records S-36379

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dombois, Eugen 1931 births 2014 deaths German lutenists German music educators 20th-century German musicians Academic staff of Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold