Melos Ensemble
This pioneering chamber music group was formed as a permanent organization to supply various groupings for chamber music. It is not to be confused with the Melos Art Ensemble, a more recently-formed Italian group. They are also not associated with the Melos Quartet, a Stuttgart-based standard string quartet.
London's Melos Ensemble was founded in 1950 by violist Cecil Aronowitz, clarinetist Gervase de Peyer, flutist Richard Adeney, and cellist Terence Weil. It was meant to be a variable ensemble of about twelve players, comprising a string quintet, a wind quintet, a harpist, and a piano.
The inspiration for the founding was a wish to rehearse and perform larger works of chamber music, such as the Schubert and Mendelssohn octets and the Ravel and Beethoven septets. Previously, such works had almost always been played by totally ad hoc groups who had not had the opportunity to work together as a chamber ensemble. The Melos Ensemble was meant to provide a permanence that would allow such compositions to be played by musicians who had gained rapport with each other that is the norm in formally established trios or string quartets.
They quickly set new standards in their chosen repertory. The ensemble proved remarkably stable, with the first changes in membership not occurring until the death of second violinist Ivor McMahon in 1972 and the departure soon afterward of three other players. This resulted in the disbanding of the ensemble in 1973. However, it was reformed in 1974 with eight of the original players with a view to giving a 25th Anniversary performance and then resuming its concert life.
Composers also found it congenial to create new chamber compositions for unusual groupings with the Melos specifically in mind, secure in the knowledge that they would obtain sympathetic and polished performances. In addition, the Melos's experience has led to the formation of similar chamber groupings, making such works a more practical option for composers than they had been. In such a way, the Melos ensemble has directly and indirectly contributed to the use of new combinations of chamber musicians in contemporary music.
The ensemble has made dozens of recordings, winning several international awards. They participated in the premiere of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, as Britten had written the chamber music that accompanies the English-language parts of that score expressly for them.
© TiVo
Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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French Songs by Ravel, Chausson & Delage
(Dame) Janet Baker, Melos Ensemble, Bernard Keeffe
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 3 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Among Friends
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 21 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Septet; Octet. Mendelssohn/Schubert: Octets
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 30 May 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Contrasts - Milhuad: Suite, Op. 157b - Khachaturian: Clarinet Trio - Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34
Gervase de Peyer, Emanuel Hurwitz, Lamar Crowson, Melos Ensemble
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 17 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ireland: Sextet, Trios, Sonatas for Clarinet, Violin and Cello)
Yfrah Neaman, Melos Ensemble, André Navarra, Gervase de Peyer, Julian Lloyd Webber, Eric Parkin
Chamber Music - Released by Lyrita on 1 Jun 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Guitar Concertos
Chamber Music - Released by 3D Sound Remaster on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Reizenstein: Piano Quintet Sonata for Violin and Piano Oboe Sonatina
Classical - Released by Continuum on 7 Jun 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Seiber
Peter Pears, Dorian Singers, Melos Ensemble
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Recital for Guitar & Lute
Chamber Music - Released by Jube Classic on 15 Jan 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Essentials
Classical - Released by Classique Perfecto on 19 Jun 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven/ Mendelssohn: Octets
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 30 May 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo