Eduard Melkus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eduard Melkus (1 September 1928 in Baden bei Wien) is an Austrian violinist and violist.

He has dedicated himself immediately after the Second World War to the exploration of historically informed performance. He was a member of the 1949 Vienna viola quartet and belonged to the select group of musicians around Alice and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt.

He has played concerts, records and CD recordings of more than 200 works of the late 17th Up to the 18th Century with his "Capella Academica", or the French harpsichordist Huguette Dreyfus tapped him a worldwide audience.

Since 1958 Melkus was a professor of violin, baroque violin, viola and historical performance practice at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1982 he became head of the Institute for Viennese sound style.

As violin soloist, Eduard Melkus is in line precursor of a revival of Baroque music. He played on a baroque violin made by Nicolo Amati in 1679, in its original state. He also owns three other instruments made by Nicolo Amati, which enables it to gather a complete string quartets of the same luthier. His recordings of sonatas by Corelli, Biber, Bach and the great concertos of pre-classical repertoire have quickly made known to the general public. Musicologist, a great lover of art and architecture, an ardent advocate of Baroque music, founder and organizer of various chamber music, Eduard Melkus is also a man of great culture, and distinguished teacher.

[edit] Bibilography

• 15 Jahre Institut für Wiener Klangstil (1980-1995), Institut für Wiener Klangstil 1996, ISBN 3-900914-01-X
• Die Violine. Eine Einführung in die Geschichte der Violine und des Violinspiels, Schott, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-7957-2359-0
• Books written:

1. Der Bachbogen
2. Die Violine als Objekt der Stilkunde
3. Bogensetzung und Stricharten in der Musik Mozarts
4. Bogensetzung und Stricharten im Werke Beethovens