James Messeas (1880 [1] or 1881 [2] – 1955 [2]) was a Dutch cellist, member of Verbrugghen String Quartet.
Messeas was born in Amsterdam. [1] His parents were Spanish, [1] the father being the principal double bass in the Paleis voor Volksvlijt Orchestra (Amsterdam). [1] His uncle was violinist in Paris under Hector Berlioz. [1] Both the father and the uncle provided the young Messeas with his initial musical training. [1] In 1890, after studying the cello for only 12 months, he made a public recital of Julius Klengel's Concertino No. 1, Op. 7. [1] The following year the boy went to Scotland. There he met Willy Benda, who gave him a scholarship at the Athenaeum School of Music. He later returned to Germany to finish his studies with Klengel. [1]
In 1902 Messeas came back to Athenaeum and became a professor. [1] He soon joined Henri Verbrugghen's String quartet and became the principal cellist of the Harrogate Symphony Orchestra. [1] In 1915 together with the other members of the quartet he came to Australia, where he got professorship at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music. [1]
In summer 1918 he was the first cellist to give a performance of the complete cycle of Beethoven and Mendelssohn cello sonatas in Sydney (with Myrtle Meggy at the piano). [3]
In early 1920s the whole quartet moved further to Minneapolis. Messeas died in 1955 in that city. [2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Souvenir program of Beethoven Festival 1920
- ^ a b c "Messeas, James 1881-1955 | Reid Concerts".
- ^ An article in The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 Jun 1918
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