Ernst Lecher Bacon (May 26, 1898 – March 16, 1990) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

, and conductor. A prolific author, Bacon composed over 250 songs over his career. He was awarded three

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

s and a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1932 for his Second Symphony.

Personal life

Bacon was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 26, 1898 to Maria von Rosthorn Bacon (sister of Alfons von Rosthorn and Arthur von Rosthorn) and Dr. Charles S. Bacon. At the age of 19, he enrolled at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

where he pursued a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. After three years of study, he moved to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Bacon finished his education at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, where he received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

for the composition of ''The Song of the Preacher'' in 1935. Bacon met his future wife Ellen, a soprano singer, when he was 70 and she was 26 at 10,000 feet on a

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

trip in

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings ...

in 1968, four years after he retired from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. Despite the age gap, they shared a love for classical music and writers like Emerson and Thoreau. Together they had a son named David who was born in 1973. Bacon died in 1990 at age 91 in

Orinda, California Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents. History Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados ...

Career

At the age of 19, Bacon wrote a complex

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

entitled "Our Musical Idiom," which explored all possible harmonies within

Equal Temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, wh ...

and gave the numbers of chords available for each

cardinality In mathematics, the cardinality of a set is a measure of the number of elements of the set. For example, the set A = \ contains 3 elements, and therefore A has a cardinality of 3. Beginning in the late 19th century, this concept was generalized ...

(thereby anticipating the later work of

Allen Forte Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

). However, when he began to compose music in his 20s, he rejected a purely cerebral approach. He took the position that music is an art, not a science, and that its source should be human and imaginative, rather than abstract and analytical. Bacon was self-taught in composition, except for two years of study with

Karl Weigl Karl Ignaz Weigl (6 February 1881 – 11 August 1949) was a Jewish Austrian composer and pianist, who later became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Weigl was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a bank official who was al ...

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Experiencing the depression of post-war Europe first hand, he understood that the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

movement reflected the pessimism of its origins. Bacon set out instead to write music that expressed the vitality and affirmation of his own country. He composed a large number of art songs, and much other music including chamber, orchestral, and choral works. Aside from his musical and literary composition, Bacon held a number of positions that took him across the country. From 1925-28, Bacon was an opera coach at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

. In 1928 Bacon traveled from New York to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to take up a position at the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California. As of 2021, it had 480 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgh ...

where he served until 1930. In 1935, Bacon was the guest conductor at the first

Carmel Bach Festival The Carmel Bach Festival (CBF) began in 1935 as a four-day series of concerts at the Sunset School Auditorium and the Carmel Mission Basilica. Over the years, it grew to a three-week series of concerts, recitals, master classes, lectures, and open ...

in California. A year later he was supervising the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA)

Federal Music Project The Federal Music Project (FMP) was a part of the New Deal program Federal Project Number One provided by the U.S. federal government which employed musicians, conductors and composers during the Great Depression. In addition to performing thousan ...

and conducting the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

. From 1938-45, he was dean and professor of piano at

Converse College Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits ...

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...

. From 1945-47 he was director of the school of music, then from 1947-63 he was professor and composer in residence at

. He was Professor Emeritus from 1964. Among his students were

Jonathan Elkus Jonathan Elkus (born August 8, 1931) is an American composer, arranger, editor, author, conductor, and teacher. Life Born in San Francisco, the son of Albert Elkus, he studied composition at University of California, Berkeley (BA 1953) with Ch ...

Carlisle Floyd Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American South, particularly the Post- ...

, David N. Johnson, and

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and p ...

. He continued to work until shortly before his death in 1990.

Settings

Bacon composed settings to the works by the following:

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures ther ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, Helena Carus,

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

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 treat ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

Paul Horgan Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American writer of historical fiction and non-fiction who mainly wrote about the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for Histor ...

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

, Nicolaus Lenau,

Cornel Lengyel Cornel Adam Lengyel (January 2, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American poet, historian, playwright and translator. He received the Maxwell Anderson Award in 1950 for his play ''The Atom Clock''. What would a writer convey through his wor ...

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

Carl Sandberg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

Sara Teasdale Sara Teasdale (August 8, 1884January 29, 1933) was an American lyric poet. She was born Sarah Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger after her marriage in 1914. In 1918 she won a Pulitzer Prize for her ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

Discography

* ERNST BACON THE COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO GUITAR Azica Records, ACD-71294, Bradley Colten, Guitar. * FORGOTTEN AMERICANS,

Arabesque Recordings Arabesque Records is an American record company and record label, label specializing in jazz and classical music. It was founded by Caedmon Audio as a classical music label. In 1988 it was bought by Ward Botsford and Marvin Reiss, becoming an in ...

Z6823, Includes: "A Life," Joel Krosnick, cello and Gilbert Kalish, piano. * ABRAHAM LINCOLN PORTRAITS, Naxos 8.559373-74, Nashville Symphony, Leonard Slatkin, conductor, Includes: "Ford’s Theatre: A Few Glimpses of Easter Week, 1865." * THE BACK OF BEYOND, Music for Flute and Piano, Lea Kibler, Flute; Irina Viritch, Piano, Includes: "Buncombe County, N.C.," "Burnt Cabin Branch," "Holbert's Cove." * FOND AFFECTION, CRI CD 890 (now at New World Records), 25 Bacon settings: Janet Brown, soprano; Herbert Burtis piano, Willam Sharp, baritone; John Musto, piano, Amy Burton, soprano; John Musto, piano, Sonata for Violin and Piano (1983) - Ronald Copes, violin; Alan Feinberg, piano. * REMEMBERING ANSEL ADAMS AND OTHER WORKS, CRI CD 779 (now at New World Records), Remembering Ansel Adams (1985) - Richard Stoltzman, clarinet; Warsaw Philharmonic, Jerzy Swoboda, conductor, Sonata for Cello and Piano (1948) - Bernard Greenhouse, cello; Menahem Pressler, piano, Collected Short Piano Works (1950 -1965) - Emily Corbato, piano, Tumbleweeds (1979) Dorothy Bales, violin; Allan Sly, piano. * SONGS OF CHARLES IVES AND ERNST BACON, CRI CD 675 (now at New World Records), Contains 21 Bacon settings, Recorded in 1954 and 1964 with Helen Boatwright, soprano and Ernst Bacon at the piano for his own songs. * ROSI & TONI GRUNSCHLAG PIANO DUO, CRI CD 606 (now at New World Records), Includes: "Coal-Scuttle Blues," (by Bacon and Otto Lueining). * THE LISTENERS, New World Records, William Parker, baritone, Includes: "Billy in the Darbies." * SHAKESPEARE AND THE MODERN COMPOSER, Soundmark, The Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney, Jorge Mester, "The Enchanted Isle/The Tempest." * TRIOS FROM THE CITY OF BIG SHOULDERS, Cedille CDR90000203 (2021), Lincoln Trio, includes Trio no. 2 for violin, cello, and piano (1987)Reviewed at ''MusicWeb International''
/ref>

References

* Library of Congress. (2006)

Retrieved December 6, 2006 * A Bibliography of the Works of Ernst Bacon. Dale Vargason, Jr. (Thesis for MA at Department of Music, SUNY Buffalo).

Research resources

The Lied and Art Songs Texts page created and maintained from Emily Ezust
Ernst Bacon Papers, 1933-1990
(1.25 linear ft.) at th

a
Stanford University Libraries

at the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University
Ernst Bacon Society

Ernst Bacon Collection
at th
Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center
a
Boston University

External links

December 13, 1986
Ernst Bacon Collection, 1907-1990
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Ernst 1898 births 1990 deaths Northwestern University alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni American male classical composers American classical composers University of Chicago alumni Works Progress Administration workers Musicians from Chicago Eastman School of Music faculty Pupils of Alexander Raab San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty Syracuse University faculty 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from California Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians