Egon Wellesz

Egon Joseph Wellesz, CBE, FBA was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Egon Wellesz.

From the period sources

Egon Wellesz, an Austrian musicologist and composer, was recognized in his time for an “ultra-modern style,” as noted by The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1924). He pursued extensive musical education, studying with Frühling, B. Walter, and notably, Arnold Schönberg, earning his Ph.D. in 1908. Wellesz was active in Viennese academic life, teaching music-history at the New Conservatory from 1911 to 1915 and lecturing at the University starting in 1913. His scholarly output, beginning in 1910, covered a “great variety of historical studies,” with particular focus on Viennese music, Byzantine and Oriental music, and early opera. Among his published works were Der Beginn d. musikal. Barock u. d. Anfänge d. Oper in Wien (1922), Aufgaben u. Probleme d. oriental. Kirchenmusik (1923), and a biography of his teacher, Schönberg, published in 1921. As a composer, his works include the opera Die Prinzessin Girnara (1921), ballets such as Diana and Achylles auf Skyros, orchestral pieces like Vorfrühling, and four string quartets. His contributions were also noted in the Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians: American Supplement (1920), which listed him among its German and Austrian contributors.