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. The ensemble's reputation for excellence has encouraged composers to write music exploring these resources. 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).
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), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Richard Adeney (flute), and Terence Weil (cello) planned a group of twelve players, a string quintet and a wind quintet with harp and piano, that might be expanded by other players, to perform the great octets by Schubert and Mendelssohn, the septet by Beethoven, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro and the Serenade by Arnold Schoenberg. Neill Sanders (horn, a member for 29 years until 1979), and Adrian Beers (double bass) were members from the beginning. All these musicians stayed with the group for decades.
A remarkable premiere for the group was Jacques-Louis Monod's 1962 presentation of Roberto Gerhard's Concerto for Eight. This was followed by the 1962 premiere, and subsequent 1963 recording, of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, for which the instrumental sections accompanying the English texts had been written specifically for the Melos, and were directed by the composer in the performance. The recording received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. In 1964 and 1965 the Melos Ensemble played several concerts at the new Wardour Castle Summer School, founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr. On 16 August 1964 they played among others Monody for Corpus Christi by Birtwistle, Five Little Pieces (first performance) by Davies, and Suite Op.11 by Goehr. A chamber concert on 17 August featured the Horn Trio by Brahms, on 18 August the Quatuor pour la fin du temps by Messiaen. In 1965, the Melos Ensemble played on 16 August Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg. On 18 August parts of In Chymick Art, a cantata on texts by Edward Benlowes that Robin Holloway wrote for the Summer School, were performed for the first time. On 20 August they premiered two works they had commissioned, Tragoedia by Birtwistle, conducted by Lawrence Foster, and two 'In Nomine" of Seven In Nomine by Davies, conducted by the composer.
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. The ensemble's reputation for excellence has encouraged composers to write music exploring these resources. 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).
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), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Richard Adeney (flute), and Terence Weil (cello) planned a group of twelve players, a string quintet and a wind quintet with harp and piano, that might be expanded by other players, to perform the great octets by Schubert and Mendelssohn, the septet by Beethoven, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro and the Serenade by Arnold Schoenberg. Neill Sanders (horn, a member for 29 years until 1979), and Adrian Beers (double bass) were members from the beginning. All these musicians stayed with the group for decades.
A remarkable premiere for the group was Jacques-Louis Monod's 1962 presentation of Roberto Gerhard's Concerto for Eight. This was followed by the 1962 premiere, and subsequent 1963 recording, of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, for which the instrumental sections accompanying the English texts had been written specifically for the Melos, and were directed by the composer in the performance. The recording received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. In 1964 and 1965 the Melos Ensemble played several concerts at the new Wardour Castle Summer School, founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr. On 16 August 1964 they played among others Monody for Corpus Christi by Birtwistle, Five Little Pieces (first performance) by Davies, and Suite Op.11 by Goehr. A chamber concert on 17 August featured the Horn Trio by Brahms, on 18 August the Quatuor pour la fin du temps by Messiaen. In 1965, the Melos Ensemble played on 16 August Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg. On 18 August parts of In Chymick Art, a cantata on texts by Edward Benlowes that Robin Holloway wrote for the Summer School, were performed for the first time. On 20 August they premiered two works they had commissioned, Tragoedia by Birtwistle, conducted by Lawrence Foster, and two 'In Nomine" of Seven In Nomine by Davies, conducted by the composer.
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