Description

ISOLDE MARIE MENGES (HOVE (SUSSEX), 16 MAY, 1893 – RICHMOND, SURREY, 13 JANUARY, 1976)

The daughter of George Menges, a native of Germany, she was born in Sussex, England. Her parents both played the violin and operated a music school. Menges became a student of Leopold Auer and Carl Flesch. She concertised widely, as soloist and with the Menges Quartet (founded by her in 1931) and Quintet, in locations such as Darmstadt (at 14 years of age), Liège, Wiesbaden, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, and throughout England, Scotland, Canada and the United States. Her Quartet gave a complete cycle of Beethoven quartets in Wigmore Hall in London in 1938, and another in Oxford. She gave concerti with noted orchestras and conductors such as the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra conducted by Henry J. Wood), and London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, and the Royal Philharmonic Society. In 1916 she played the Brahms Violin Concerto and Édouard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole with Ernest Bloch. During World War I, because her German heritage brought her loyalty into question in England, Menges toured North America from 1916 to 1919. She gave more than 100 free concerts for children in Canada. In 1920, she married the composer Harold Tod Boyd; the couple had one child. While living with friends in Kelowna, Canada, during the winter and spring of 1918, Isolde Menges gave daily private lessons to child prodigy Isobel Murray, who later became one of British Columbia’s leading violinists. A major prize commemorates her at the Royal College of Music, where she taught from 1931. Her younger brother was the composer and conductor (Siegfried Frederick) Herbert Menges.

TRACKLIST

1. Staccato valse Op 128 No 6 (Godard) HMV 2-07925 HO 1272 ac
2. Hungarian dance No 7 in A major (Brahms arr Joachim) HMV 3-7999 HO 2127 ab
3. Danzas espanolas – Malaguena (Sarasate) HMV CR 63 D1099
4. Berceuse Op 16 (Gabriel Fauré) HMV CR65 D1099
5. Hejre Kati (Hubay) with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Ce9503 D1223
6. Der Zephir (Hubay) with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Bb 18544
7. Violin Sonatina in G minor, D408, op. 137, no. 3 Allegro giusto (Schubert) with Arthur De Greef (piano) HMV Cc12130
8. Violin Sonatina in G minor, D408, op. 137, no. 3 Andante (Schubert) Arthur De Greef (piano) HMV Cc12131
9. Violin Sonatina in G minor, D408, op. 137, no. 3 Minuet (Allegro vivace) (Schubert) Arthur De Greef (piano) HMV Cc12132
10. Violin Sonatina in G minor, D408, op. 137, no. 3 Allegro moderato (Schubert) Arthur De Greef (piano) HMV Cc12133
11. Nocturne, Op.27 (Chopin, arr. Wilhelmj) HMV 3-07931 D529
12. Le Coq D’or”- Hymn To The Sun (Rimsky-Korsakov) HMV 7-7946 E444
13. Sadko” Chanson Hindoue (Rimsky-Korsakov) HMV 7-7957 E444
14. Leprechauns Dance (Stanford) with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Cc13814 5-07952
15. Ave Maria (Schubert) with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Cc10977 5-07924
16. Thais (Massenet) Meditation with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Cc9502 5-07904
17. Salut d’Amour (Elgar) with Eileen Beattie (piano) HMV Cc10978 5-07925
18. Poem (Fibich) HMV Bb18545 30-2373
19. Morgen Op.27 No.2 (Strauss) HMV Cc9888 2-043063
20. Air on G String (Bach) HMV Cc10976 5-07920