Efisio Melis

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Efisio Melis (1890–1970) was a legendary Sardinian folk musician.

He was born in Villaputzu near the southeastern tip of the island of Sardinia. Melis is considered to have been the greatest performer ever on the traditional instrument, the launeddas, which is typically used in the music of southern Sardinia.

Melis was a child prodigy, performing in public at the age of eleven. His career fell into decline in the 1920s, but revived in the mid-1930s when he made a number of authoritative recordings on the launeddas that have since been reissued and serve as important documentation of his skill. He was praised by the Danish musicologist, Fridolin Weis Bentzon, as having a talent comparable to that of Bach and Mozart (cited in Leydi, 1990). He died in Cagliari.