Melos Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Melos Quartet, also called the Melos Quartet Stuttgart, is a German
string quartet
musical ensemble
based in Stuttgart
, that was in existence from 1965 to 2005.
They should not be confused with two other chamber groups of similar name, the Melos Ensemble or the Melos Art Ensemble (an Italian group).
Violin 1:
Violin 2:
Viola:
Violoncello:
word for music
which is the root of the word melody, was suggested by the combination of the names Melcher and Voss, to indicate their purpose as distinct individuals seeking musical harmony together.
The leader, Wilhelm Melcher of Hamburg
(1940–2005), studied with Erich Röhn, and with Pina Carmirelli
and Arrigo Pelliccia of the Boccherini Quintet
, in Rome
. He won the International Chamber Music Competition at Venice
in 1962, and became concertmaster of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra from 1963. The two Voss brothers, Gerhard (b. 1939) and Hermann (b. 1934), are Rhinelander
s: they studied with Sandor Végh
, and Hermann continued as a pupil of Ulrich Koch's. He became solo violist of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. The cellist Peter Buck (b. 1937) is Swabian and studied at Düsseldorf and in Freiburg, and with Ludwig Hoelscher in Stuttgart. Gerhard Voss and Peter Buck were both members of the Württemberg
Chamber Orchestra.
In 1966 the group gave its first recital: won a prize in the Villa-Lobos-Quartet competition at Rio de Janeiro
: represented West Germany
at the World Congress of Jeuness Musicale in Paris
; and, most influentially for their future success, won the 'Prix Américain' as the best quartet, at the Geneva
International Congress of Musical Performance. Then, giving up their orchestral positions to concentrate solely on the Quartet, they began touring in 1967 and in 1968 performed in seven European countries. In 1969 they gave 105 concerts throughout the world, and had their first television appearance.
In 1969 the group signed a five-year contract with the D.G.G. record company, and spent 25 days that year making recordings for radio and commercial release. They obtained the first prize of the String Quartet Foundation sponsored by German industry in 1970, and in 1972 they entered into a further contract with D.G.G. for complete recordings of the Schubert and Cherubini string quartets.
After this they undertook tours around the world, in North and South America, Africa, all European countries, the Near East and Far East, getting as far as Novosibirsk
in Russia
. They became the first West German musicians to play in Volgograd (Stalingrad), in 1973, in concerts commemorating the events of 1943. By 1975, when the Schubert integral recordings were completed and issued, the Quartet also held a teaching post at the Stuttgart School of Music.
By 1975 the group had built up a repertoire of 120 works, including the complete Beethoven, Schubert, Cherubini and Bartok quartets, and works by Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Hugo Wolf
, Pfitzner
, Verdi, Donizetti, Debussy, Smetana
, Kodály, Janáček, Hindemith, Alban Berg
, Gian Francesco Malipiero
, Witold Lutosławski, Milko Kelemen
, Wittinger and Horvath
. They made a conscious decision to have a wide-ranging repertoire in order to avoid getting stuck to any particular period.
For most of the Schubert recordings the instruments were a cello by Francesco Ruggieri
(1682), a viola by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi
(18th century), first violin by Domenico Montagnana
(1731) and second violin by Carlo Annibale Tononi
(18th century).
They were planning a farewell tour in 2005, when Wilhelm Melcher, the first violinist died unexpectedly just before his 65th birthday.
Among others, the Quartet collaborated with Arthur Rubinstein
, Mstislav Rostropovich
and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
.
String Quintet in C major (D. 956) with Mstislav Rostropovich
as the second cellist on the Deutsche Grammophon
label.
They recorded a 3 CD set of the Haydn Quartets on the Deutsche Grammophon
label.
They also recorded the complete Mendelssohn
and Schubert String Quartets on the Deutsche Grammophon
label. They also recorded the complete Beethoven Quartet Cycle for their 25th Anniversary as a Limited Edition Set. With Violist Franz Beyer, they recorded Mozart's complete String Quintets, again for Deutsche Grammophon. Most of these recordings are now out of print and can be difficult to find.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
musical ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
based in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, that was in existence from 1965 to 2005.
They should not be confused with two other chamber groups of similar name, the Melos Ensemble or the Melos Art Ensemble (an Italian group).
Personnel
(Membership dates)Violin 1:
- Wilhelm MelcherWilhelm MelcherWilhelm Melcher was a German violinist best known as the founder of the Melos Quartet.He was born in Hamburg and studied there and in Rome...
(1940–2005)
Violin 2:
- Gerhard Voss (born 1939), (1965–1993)
- Ida BielerIda BielerIda Bieler is an American violinist and professor of Violin.-Biography:Her musical training was received among others from Ruggiero Ricci at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Oscar Shumsky at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Max Rostal in Cologne and from Nathan Milstein in London...
, 2nd violin (1993–2005)
Viola:
- Hermann Voss (born 1934)
Violoncello:
- Peter Buck (cellist) (born 1937)
Origins and activities
The Melos Quartet Stuttgart was founded in October 1965 by four young musicians who were members of well-known German chamber orchestras. The name Melos, an ancient GreekAncient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
word for music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
which is the root of the word melody, was suggested by the combination of the names Melcher and Voss, to indicate their purpose as distinct individuals seeking musical harmony together.
The leader, Wilhelm Melcher of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(1940–2005), studied with Erich Röhn, and with Pina Carmirelli
Pina Carmirelli
Pina Carmirelli was an Italian violinist.She started studying music and playing in public when she was very young. She was a pupil of Michelangelo Abbado, and graduated from the Milan Conservatory in violin and composition . She won the Premio Stradivari in 1937 and the Premio Paganini in 1940...
and Arrigo Pelliccia of the Boccherini Quintet
Boccherini Quintet
The Boccherini Quintet was a string quintet founded in Rome in 1949 when two of its original members, Arturo Bonucci and Pina Carmirelli, discovered and bought, in Paris, a complete collection of the first edition of Luigi Boccherini's 141 string quintets, and set about to promote this long...
, in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He won the International Chamber Music Competition at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in 1962, and became concertmaster of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra from 1963. The two Voss brothers, Gerhard (b. 1939) and Hermann (b. 1934), are Rhinelander
Rhinelander
Rhinelander can refer to:*A person from Rhineland, Germany*Rhinelander, Wisconsin, a city in the United States*Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, an airport that serves Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA...
s: they studied with Sandor Végh
Sándor Végh
Sándor Végh was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century.- Education :...
, and Hermann continued as a pupil of Ulrich Koch's. He became solo violist of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. The cellist Peter Buck (b. 1937) is Swabian and studied at Düsseldorf and in Freiburg, and with Ludwig Hoelscher in Stuttgart. Gerhard Voss and Peter Buck were both members of the Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
Chamber Orchestra.
In 1966 the group gave its first recital: won a prize in the Villa-Lobos-Quartet competition at Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
: represented West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
at the World Congress of Jeuness Musicale in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; and, most influentially for their future success, won the 'Prix Américain' as the best quartet, at the Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
International Congress of Musical Performance. Then, giving up their orchestral positions to concentrate solely on the Quartet, they began touring in 1967 and in 1968 performed in seven European countries. In 1969 they gave 105 concerts throughout the world, and had their first television appearance.
In 1969 the group signed a five-year contract with the D.G.G. record company, and spent 25 days that year making recordings for radio and commercial release. They obtained the first prize of the String Quartet Foundation sponsored by German industry in 1970, and in 1972 they entered into a further contract with D.G.G. for complete recordings of the Schubert and Cherubini string quartets.
After this they undertook tours around the world, in North and South America, Africa, all European countries, the Near East and Far East, getting as far as Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. They became the first West German musicians to play in Volgograd (Stalingrad), in 1973, in concerts commemorating the events of 1943. By 1975, when the Schubert integral recordings were completed and issued, the Quartet also held a teaching post at the Stuttgart School of Music.
By 1975 the group had built up a repertoire of 120 works, including the complete Beethoven, Schubert, Cherubini and Bartok quartets, and works by Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Hugo Wolf
Hugo Wolf
Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
, Pfitzner
Pfitzner
Pfitzner may refer to:In people* Composer Hans Pfitzner* Nazi politician and historian Josef PfitznerIn other uses* Pfitzner-Moffatt oxidation, a chemical reaction* G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, located in Prince William County, Virginia, USA...
, Verdi, Donizetti, Debussy, Smetana
Smetana
Smetana is a Slavic loanword in English for a dairy product that is produced by souring heavy cream. Smetana is from Central and Eastern Europe, sometimes perceived to be specifically of Russian origin. It is a soured cream product like crème fraîche , but nowadays mainly sold with 15% to 30%...
, Kodály, Janáček, Hindemith, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
, Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.-Early years:Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gian Francesco Malipiero was prevented by family troubles from pursuing his musical education in...
, Witold Lutosławski, Milko Kelemen
Milko Kelemen
Milko Kelemen is a Croatian composer.- Life :Milko Kelemen studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris and Wolfgang Fortner in Freiburg amongst others....
, Wittinger and Horvath
Horváth
Horvath is a common Hungarian surname, originating from Croatia. It is an older version of the noun "Hrvat" which is the Croatian-language name for a Croat, . The initial holders of this surname most likely were ethnic Croats living or working in Hungary...
. They made a conscious decision to have a wide-ranging repertoire in order to avoid getting stuck to any particular period.
For most of the Schubert recordings the instruments were a cello by Francesco Ruggieri
Francesco Ruggieri
Francesco Ruggieri was perhaps an apprentice of Nicolò Amati, another important luthier in Cremona Italy, although other sources call this association into question....
(1682), a viola by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi
Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi
-Personal History:Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi was a legendary, individual master luthier who was active in the Italian 18th century during the golden age of stringed instrument making....
(18th century), first violin by Domenico Montagnana
Domenico Montagnana
Domenico Montagnana was an Italian master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the world's finest violin and cello makers of his time....
(1731) and second violin by Carlo Annibale Tononi
Carlo Annibale Tononi
Carlo Annibale Tononi was a luthier who trained and worked with his father in the Tononi family workshop in Bologna Italy until his father, Johannes Tononi, died in 1713....
(18th century).
They were planning a farewell tour in 2005, when Wilhelm Melcher, the first violinist died unexpectedly just before his 65th birthday.
Among others, the Quartet collaborated with Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
, Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
.
Recorded works
They recorded a performance of the SchubertFranz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
String Quintet in C major (D. 956) with Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
as the second cellist on the Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
label.
They recorded a 3 CD set of the Haydn Quartets on the Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
label.
They also recorded the complete Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
and Schubert String Quartets on the Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
label. They also recorded the complete Beethoven Quartet Cycle for their 25th Anniversary as a Limited Edition Set. With Violist Franz Beyer, they recorded Mozart's complete String Quintets, again for Deutsche Grammophon. Most of these recordings are now out of print and can be difficult to find.