Wellesz, Egon (āˈgŏn vĕlˈĕs) [key], 1885–1974, Austrian composer and musicologist. Wellesz studied with Schoenberg at the same time as Berg and Webern. His early compositions show the influence of Mahler, but the clarity and articulation that characterize his later works are already evident. He is the author of studies of Byzantine and Arabic music, including Eastern Elements in Western Chant (1947) and A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnology (1948). From 1939 he lived in England; there he taught at Oxford and composed operas, ballets, chamber music, liturgical works, and symphonies.
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