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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

musicologist and lawyer who migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he became best known as a

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

maker. He also continued his musical activities there, and was a co-founder of both

Musica Viva Australia Musica Viva, also known as Musica Viva Australia, is a national organisation in Australia dedicated to chamber music. History Music Viva was founded in Sydney in 1945 by Romanian-born Vienna-educated violinist Richard Goldner, who had fled Naz ...

(with Richard Goldner) 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 stat ...

Career

Walter Dullo was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

). He studied mathematics at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

1921-24, music at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

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

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 States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 o ...

, where they sold their home-made chocolate truffles. He was classified as a refugee alien during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was sent to work at

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

. 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 Richard Goldner, Dullo co-founded

, 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 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 ...

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

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

'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 Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteum ...

. In the 1960s he reconstructed and completed five piano sonatas by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

.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 an Australian pianist, accompanist and teacher, who also worked as a music, film and theatre critic. Biography Costantino was the daughter of Napoleone Costantino (1 ...

and Geoffrey Saba. He also wrote

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

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

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, 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 that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

station, 2MBS (now called Fine Music 102.5), 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 The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

. Walter Andreas Dullo collapsed at the offices of 2MBS on 22 August 1978, and died at the

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in the suburb of St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technol ...

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 Humboldt University of Berlin alumni