Three of the four chamber-music compositions by Egon Wellesz on this album, covering the period 1959-71, are first recordings.
Historical Context
Wellesz, who was Jewish, had to emigrate from Austria in 1938 after Hitler's annexation, finding refuge in Britain.
Performer Biography
The Veles Ensemble, a classical string trio based in London, takes its name from Veles, an old Slavic god of earth, waters, forests, the underworld, magic, and music.
Composer Biography
Wellesz was a man of extraordinary energy, with careers as a musicologist, lecturing at Vienna University and becoming a leading expert on Byzantine music, alongside his compositional work.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Wellesz preferred to maintain atonal freedom in his music, relying on incessant motivic variation to provide intelligibility, rather than adopting Schoenberg's twelve-tone idiom.
Composer Biography
Egon Wellesz, a musicologist and composer, was an early pupil of Arnold Schoenberg and a fellow student of Anton Webern at Vienna University.
