Jan Bach (December 11, 1937 – October 30, 2020) was an American composer. He taught at the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

(

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

) from 1965 to 1966 and at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in DeKalb, Illinois ( music theory and composition) from 1966 to 2002. His primary performing instrument was the

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, and he was renowned among hornists for his horn pieces. He also played the piano. Bach died on October 30, 2020.

Early life and education

Jan Bach was born on December 11, 1937 in

Forrest, Illinois Forrest is a village in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,220 at the 2010 census. Geography Forrest is located in southeastern Livingston County at (40.750018, -88.409992). It is in the northern part of Forrest T ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...

degree in 1959 from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and a

Doctor of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...

degree in composition there in 1971. He studied with

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

and

Roberto Gerhard Robert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder (; 25 September 1896 – 5 January 1970) was a Spanish Catalan composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Roberto Gerhard.Malcolm MacDonald. 'Gerhard, Roberto' in ''Grove Music Onl ...

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

in 1961 and with

Thea Musgrave Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Biography Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...

in Aldeburgh and London in 1974.

Awards

In 1957 he won the BMI Student Composers first prize. He later won the Koussevitsky competition at

, the Harvey Gaul Composition Contest, the

Mannes College Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...

opera competition, the

Sigma Alpha Iota Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...

choral composition award, first prize at the First International Brass Congress in

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 approxima ...

, Switzerland, grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and the Illinois Arts Council, the Brown University choral composition award, first prize in the Nebraska Sinfonia chamber orchestra competition, and first prize in the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

competition. He has been nominated six times for the Pulitzer Prize in music. In 1982, he was awarded a Presidential Research Professorship grant. He was

's nominee for the National CASE Professor of the Year award six times.

Compositional style

According to James P. Cassaro writing in the New Grove Dictionary of Music, "a predominant aspect of ach'swork is his charming and inexhaustible sense of humour." Cassaro goes on to remark that "in all genres, Bach's works display both structural clarity and a subtle use of instrumental timbre." Rick Anderson in the ''Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association'' (June 2007), p. 925-926, calls Bach "one of America's somewhat hidden treasures" noting the "two sides, equally important, of Bach's musical personality...his seriousness...and his humor". Barry Kilpatrick in the ''American Record Guide'' (January–February 2007), p. 55-56 remarks that " achwrites difficult music, to be sure. I think it's a prime motivation, judging by his own comments about how both the Horn Concerto and the French Suite might be the most difficult works ever written for horn. Perhaps this motivation comes from the fact that he is a horn player. Whatever the reason, the result is that only the highest level of player can seem in command of the pieces. Everyone else can only try hard."

Compositions

His second opera, ''The Student from Salamanca'', was produced by

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned f ...

for the

Company in 1980. His first opera, ''The System'', premiered in New York at the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...

on March 5, 1974. His orchestral compositions include: ''Burgundy Variations'', 1968; ''Sprint'', 1982; ''Alla Breve'', 1984; ''Escapade'', 1984; ''Romeo and Juliet'', 1984; and ''Estampie'', 1988. His band and wind ensemble compositions include: ''Dionysia'', 1964; ''Recitative and March'', viola soloist and wind ensemble, 1966;''The Eve of St. Agnes'', 1976; and ''Foliations'', 1995. His chamber music includes ''Divertimento'', oboe and bassoon, 1956 ; ''String Trio'', 1956; ''Quartet for Stings'', 1957; ''Quintet for Oboe and Strings'', 1958, ''Four Two-Bit Contraptions'', flute and horn, 1964, ''Skizzen'', wind quintet, 1967, ''Laudes'', brass quintet, 1971, ''Concert Variations'', double-belled euphonium or euphonium and piano, 1977, and ''Triple Play'' for brass trio, commissioned by the Zephyr Brass Trio in 2006.

Publishers

His publishers include Boosey & Hawkes, Carl Fischer, Associated Music, Meadow Music, Galaxy-Highgate, M. M. Cole, Mentor Music, Cimarron Music Press, Trevco Music, and ITEA Press.

Bibliography

The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

(2000), "Jan Bach". *

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in 2 ...

(1991), "Jan Bach". *R.H. Kornick: ''Recent American Opera: a Production Guide'' (New York, 1991), 36–9. *

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

, October 20, 1980, Vol. 116, No. 16, 86-8: "Opera is Still Alive in New York". *

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

, November 3, 1980, Volume XCVI, No. 18, 81: "Opera with the Sills Touch". *Alfred Blatter, ''Instrumentation and Orchestration'' (New York, 1997), 156. *

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, October 26, 1980, "MUSIC VIEW; The 'Prickly Thickets' Of American Opera". *K.E. Shrum: ''An Analytical Commentary on the Euphonium and Tuba Music of Jan Bach'' (diss., Arizona State U., 1989) *

R. Winston Morris Ralph Winston Morris (born January 19, 1941 in Barnwell, South Carolina) is an American tubist. He served as professor of tuba and euphonium at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee, for 55 years, and subsequent to his retirement af ...

and Daniel Perantoni: ''Guide to the Tuba Repertoire: The New Tuba Source Book'' (2006), 5, 135, 153, 175, 192.

Discography

*''The Happy Prince''; Limited Classics LCI-101(LP) *''The New York Brass Quintet''; Crystal Records S210 (LP) *''The New York Brass Quintet''; Crystal Records (LP on CD, CD221) *''Introducing the Bowie Brass Quintet'', BBQ 101 (CD, DDD) *''The Meridian Arts Ensemble'';

Channel Classics Records Channel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conserv ...

CCS 2191 (CD, DDD) *''Heavy Metal''; Grammofon AB BIS *''Premieres''; University of Wisconsin Recordings UW103 (LP) *''Clockworks''; Grammofon AB BIS CD-699 (CD, DDD) *''Is This the Way to Carnegie Hall''; Crystal Records S350 (LP) *''20th Century Wind Chamber Music''; Centaur Recordings CRC 2225 (CD, DDD) *''American Wind Music''; Centaur Recordings CRC 2085 (CD, DDD) *''Opening Concert, 1979 Aldeburgh Festival''; BBC In Recital #546 (TAPE) *''Chamber Music for Harp, Flute, and Strings''; MChP-2 (CD, DDD) *''In the Shadow of a Miracle''; Sierra Records SXCD 5005 (CD, DDD) *''Garten Von Freuden und Traurigkeit''; Cavalli Records CD 237 (CD, DDD) *''Eu-Fish''; Albany Records TROY 162 (CD, DDD) *''Obsessions''; Nippon Acoustic Records NAR 2004 (CD, DDD) *''Premier!''; Summit Records DCD 187 (CD, DDD) *''Contrasts for Trumpets''; Doyen Recordings DOY CD 009 (CD, DDD) *''Jubilee; WSSNJ-9701 (CD, DDD) *''Spring!Flowers!''; AFS Digital Media Services, RED ROSE RECORDS (CD, DDD) *''Paul Freeman Introduces Exotic Concertos''; Albany Records TROY 521 (CD,DDD) *''My Very First Solo''; Arktos Recordings, ARKTOS 200367 (CD,DDD) *''Something New''; London Independent Records (LIR 015) *''Something Blue''; LIR Classics (LIR 028) *''Oompa Suite"; Summit Records (Classical), DCD 558 (CD) *''Zodiac''; Koch Entertainment LP (KIC-CD-7538) *''Everyone But Me''; Murch Records (MURCH2607) *''Foliations''; Bis Records AB (BIS-CD-1438) *''Brass Outings''; Gaudete Brass (GBQ-01) *''Blowout!''; American Music Corporation (AMC 1018) *''Music from Five Centuries''; Affetto Recordings (AF 2001) *''Themes and Meditations''; Summit Records (DCD 700) *''American Music for Violin and Horn''; Affetto Recordings (AF 2007) *''With Strings Attached''; Central Michigan University (WPM 239) *''Le Soleil de Mitia''; Indesens Records (INDE 005)

References

External links

Grove Dictionary of Music Online, Jan Bach entry

Jon Boen's recording of Jan Bach horn musicJan Bach's website
October 29, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Jan 1937 births 2020 deaths American male classical composers American classical composers Northern Illinois University faculty People from Livingston County, Illinois University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign School of Music alumni 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American opera composers Male opera composers University of Tampa faculty 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians