Menges, (Siegfried Frederick) Herbert
Menges, (Siegfried Frederick) Herbert
Menges, (Siegfried Frederick) Herbert, English conductor, brother of Isolde (Marie) Menges; b. Hove (of German parents), Aug. 27, 1902; d. London, Feb. 20, 1972. He played violin as a child, then took piano lessons with Mathilda Verne and Arthur de Greef. He later attended courses in composition with Vaughan Williams and Holst at the Royal Coll. of Music in London. He began his conducting career in Brighton, and conducted the Brighton Phil. Soc. (which was founded by his mother) from 1925 until his death. He was also a music director of the Old Vic Theatre in London (1931–50) and of the Southern Phil. Orch. at Southsea (from 1945). In 1963 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire