Constance Bache (; 11 March 1846 – 28/30 June 1903) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, teacher, translator, and biographer.

Early life and education

Constance Bache was born at Fairview House, Hagley Road,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

, 11 March 1846. She was the daughter of Samuel Bache (1804–1876), a Unitarian minister at the Church of the Messiah,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. She was the sister of

Francis Edward Bache Francis Edward Bache (; 14 September 183324 August 1858) was an English organist and composer. Born at Birmingham as the eldest of seven children of Samuel Bache, a well-known Unitarian minister, he studied with James Stimpson, Birmingham City O ...

and

Walter Bache Walter Bache (; 19 June 184226 March 1888) was an English pianist and conductor noted for his championing the music of Franz Liszt and other music of the New German School in England. He studied privately with Liszt in Italy from 1863 to 1865, ...

; an uncle on her mother's side was

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College ( ...

. In addition to studying under her brother Walter, and with

James Stimpson James Stimpson (29 February 1820 – 4 October 1886) was a British cathedral organist and Birmingham City Organist. Early life He was born in Lincoln, England, on 29 February 1820, the son of William Stimpson and Rebecca Dannett. William was lay ...

, of

, she studied at the Munich Conservatorium and subsequently under

Karl Klindworth Karl Klindworth (25 September 183027 July 1916) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, violinist and music publisher. He was one of Franz Liszt's pupils and later one of his closest disciples and friends, being also on friendly terms ...

and

Frits Hartvigson Frits Hartvigson (sometimes Fritz) (31 May 18418 March 1919) was a Danish pianist and teacher, who spent many years in England and gave a number of important English concerto premieres. Career Frits Seligmann Hartvigson London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she took up teaching and literary musical work. Bache was very successful as a translator from German into English. Among her achievements, mention is made of the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's 'St. Elizabeth,'

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's 'Bastian and Bastienne,' Engelbert Humperdinck's ' Hansel und Gretel,'

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's 'The Rose's Pilgrimage,' and Scenes from

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

's ' Faust', as well as Liszt's 'Letters'; Heintz's analyses of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's works;

Johann Christian Lobe Johann Christian Lobe (May 30, 1797 – July 27, 1881) was a German composer and music theorist. Born in Weimar, Lobe was either self-taught as a musician (Anon. 1885–92) or had music lessons from the age of seven (Brandt 2001). In 1810, he b ...

's' Catechism of Music';

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...

's annotations of Cramer,

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

. She wrote a biography of her two brothers, ''Brother Musicians: Reminiscences of Edward and Walter Bache'', which was published in 1901. She lectured on "Modern Russian composers", and one of the last acts of her busy life was to write an "appreciation" of her old friend,

Alfred James Hipkins Alfred James Hipkins (17 June 1826 – 3 June 1903) was an English musician, musicologist and musical antiquary. In 1840, at the age of 14, Hipkins became an apprentice piano tuner in the pianoforte factory of John Broadwood & Sons Ltd. In 1846, ...

, in the columns of the July issue of the ''Monthly Musical Record''. After being ill for five days, she died at

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

, on 28 June 1903, age 57.

Notes

References

Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bache, Constance 1846 births 1903 deaths English classical pianists English women pianists English composers English translators German–English translators People from Edgbaston British women composers 19th-century British translators 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers 19th-century British women musicians English biographers 19th-century English women 19th-century women pianists