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. Danza Espanola (De Falla-Kreisler) with Eileen Beattie piano HMV E508 7-7993
2. Hungarian Dance in B minor (Brahms-Joachim) with Eileen Beattie piano HMV E496 7-7991
3. Nocturne in Eb Op. 9 No. 2 (Chopin-Sarasate) with Eileen Beattie piano HMV D1288 5-07921
4. Sonata in A major (Handel) First Record with Eileen Beattie piano HMV D1371 4-07977
5. Sonata in A major (Handel) Second record with Eileen Beattie piano HMV D1371
6. Sonata in D major No. 4 Part (Handel) Allegro con brio HMV E279 6-7900
7. Sonata in D major No. 4 Part 1 (Handel) Andante sostenuto HMV E279 5-7997
8. Sonata in D major No. 4 Part 2 (Handel) Allegro HMV E279 5-7998
9. Sonata in D major No. 4 Part 3 (Handel) Larghetto HMV E279 5-7999
10. The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams) First recording HMV C1622 5-07949
11. The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams) Second record HMV C1622 5-07950
12. The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams) Third record HMV C1623 5-07951
13. Waltz in A flat major (Brahms) with Eileen Beattie piano HMV E508 7-7933
14. Golden Sonata (Purcell) part 1 with William Primrose (vln), Ambrose Gauntlett (vla da Gamba) and John Ticehurst Harpsichord Columbia ROX133 CAX7598
15. Golden Sonata (Purcell) part 2 with William Primrose (vln), Ambrose Gauntlett (vla da Gamba) and John Ticehurst Harpsichord Columbia ROX133 CAX7599
16. Sonata in A major 1st movement Allegro amabile part 1 (Brahms) HMV 2-2018 Bb16980
17. Sonata in A major 1st movement Allegro amabile part 2 (Brahms) HMV 2-8017 Bb16979
18. Sonata in A major 2nd movement Andante tranquillo – Vivace-andantino part 1 (Brahms) HMV 2-8016 Bb16981
19. Sonata in A major 2nd movement Andante tranquillo – Vivace-andantino part 2 (Brahms) HMV 2-8021 Bb16982
20. Sonata in A major 3rd movement Allegretto grazioso part 1 (Brahms) HMV 2-8019 Bb1698
21. Sonata in A major 3rd movement Allegretto grazioso part 2 (Brahms) HMV 2-8020 Bb16984