Michael Bach (born 17 April 1958 in

Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...

), also known as Michael Bach Bachtischa, is a German cellist, composer, and visual artist.

Biography

He studied cello with Gerhard Mantel, Boris Pergamenschikow,

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army gen ...

, and

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is consider ...

, then embarked on a career of international concert activity as well as performances on radio, recordings, and television. He made numerous significant contributions to the art of contemporary cello performance; his publication ''Fingerboards & Overtones'' proposes new ideas concerning overtones and harmonics and is considered a pioneering work in the literature on contemporary technique. In 1990 he developed the

curved bow The curved bow for string instruments enables string players to control the tension of the bow hair in order to play one, two, three and four strings simultaneously and to change easily among these possibilities. The high arch of the bow allows f ...

(''BACH.Bogen'') for the cello, violin, viola and bass, which, in polyphonic playing, permits the simultaneous sounding of multiple strings, with the high arch of the bow allowing for full, sustained chords. During the years 1997 to 2001 Mstislav Rostropovich has been intimately involved in its development. In 2001 he invited Michael Bach to Paris for a presentation of his ''BACH.Bow'' (7th Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch). In 2012, during an exhibition on the theme ''BACHLAEUFE – The Imprint of Johann Sebastian Bach on Modern Times'', held at Arnstadt, Germany, the first prize was awarded to the BACH.Bow. His work as cellist and composer was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize Amsterdam, the Kranichstein Prize Darmstadt, the Japan Record Academy Prize, the Millennium Prize Würzburg. Several contemporary composers, among them John Cage, Dieter Schnebel, Walter Zimmermann and Hans Zender, have composed works especially for the ''BACH.Bow''. Bach Bachtischa is also a composer. His purely musical compositions are idiosyncratic and highly personal, described by him as “free from compositional conventions.” In collaboration with the visual artist Renate Hoffleit he has created strikingly original string installations. Their projects ''(zwischen e and f)²'' in Stuttgart and ''IM KLANGSTROM'' in Ulm, Germany were supported i. a. by the Innovationsfonds Kunst of the State of Baden-Württemberg. The project ''Schloss Kapfenburg besaitet...'' was listed in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' in 2000. Trier Open Expo 2012

In the two blogs ''the bach update'' and ''the cello upgrade'', Michael Bach documents and analyzes projects and aspects of contemporary music as well as new insights into the solo works for violin and cello by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

. Michael Bach's visual works include ''Fingerboards'' (1990–2010), which capture the hand's choreography on the cello fingerboard as color impressions, ''Fieldwork'' (1994), ''Mit diesen beiden Händen'' (1994), ''Lagauche'' (1995), and ''Olévano'' (1995–). The German postage stamp ''75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage, Deutschland 1996'' shows his composition and drawing ''18–7–92, Scetches to Ryoanji'' (1992).http://www.michael-bach-bachtischa.de/sonderbriefmarke-donaueschinger-musiktage.html German postage stamp „75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage, Deutschland“ (1996)

Compositions

*''Ohne Titel'' (1992) for cello and 3 tapes, first performance: Donaueschinger Musiktage, Germany 1994 *''Notation 2 for 15 STRINGS and 5 Players'' (1992), first performance: Donaueschinger Musiktage, Germany 1994 *''Notation 1 and 2'' for Voice (1993–94), first performance: Stuttgart, Germany 1994 *''55 Sounds'' (1995) for cello with

, first performance: Schloss Monrepos, Ludwigsburg, Germany 1995 *''50 Sounds'' (1995) for accordion, first performance: ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany 2010 *''+Murbach'' (2000) für cello, first performance: Printemps Rhénan, SWR, France 2000 *''A–E–G–C'' (2000) for microtonal piano, first performance: Internationale Musikakademie Schloss Kapfenburg, Germany 2000 *''Karpfens'bug'' (2000) for string players and singers, first performance: Internationale Musikakademie Schloss Kapfenburg, Germany 2000 *''Karpfens'teich'' (2000) for wind instruments, first performance: Internationale Musikakademie Schloss Kapfenburg, Germany 2000 *''NURHAUFFÜGUR 1-7'' for cello with curved bow and live-electronics, first performance: Donaueschinger Musiktage, Germany 2000 *''57 Sounds'' (2001) for organ, first performance: Rheinischer Frühling, SWR, Worms, Germany 2001 *''Notation for Chamber Orchestra'' (2001), first performance: Rheinischer Frühling, SWR, Worms, Germany 2001 *''5 Pitches, 13 Notes'' (2005) for cello with curved bow, first performance: MANCA Festival Nice, France 2005 *''18–7–92'' (1992/2004) for cello with curved bow and 3 tapes, first performance: Other Minds Festival, San Francisco, USA 2008 *''namen.los'' (2008) for clarinet, first performance: Treffpunkt Rotebühl, Stuttgart, Germany 2008 *''ONE13'' (1992/2006) for cello with curved bow and pre-recorded media (Co-Author: John Cage), first performance: Other Minds Festival, San Francisco, USA 2008 *''versbrechen – ein Fingerboard für Kirchner'' (2010) for cello with curved bow, first performance: Galerie Stihl, Waiblingen, Germany 2010 *''locus amoenus'' (2014) for cello with curved bow, first performance: Foundation Domnick, Nürtingen 2014 *''vierumuns'' (2015) for four voices, first performance: (EXVOCO) City Library of Stuttgart 2015 *''273" für Dieter Schnebel'' (2018) for cello with curved bow, first performance: Kunstbezirk Stuttgart, Allemagne 2018

Premieres

* 1986 ''

SOLO Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

'' (1966) by

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...

with digital delay machines. Michael Bach, Cello and the Experimentalstudio des SWF, Hans Peter Haller, Freiburg, Germany. * 1986 ''Sonata in E-flat Major'', opus 64 by

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

with Berhard Wambach, piano, Karlsruhe, Germany. * 1987 ''Kadenzen'' (1913) by Arnold Schoenberg for the ''Cello Concerto in g minor'' by Matthias Georg Monn with the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, conductor: Georg Schmöhe, Bonn, Germany. * 1991 ''ONE8 and 108'' (1991) for cello with curved bow and orchestra by John Cage, dedicated to Michael Bach and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart (without conductor), Stuttgart, Germany. * 1992 ''Mit diesen Händen'' (1992) for cello with curved bow and voice by Dieter Schnebel, dedicated to Michael Bach, together with the singer William Pearson on the occasion of the "Heinrich-Böll-Woche" in Cologne, Germany. * 1993 ''ONE13'' (1992) for cello with curved bow and 3 tapes, composition by John Cage and Michael Bach Bachtischa, festival ''musica'' in Strasbourg, France. * 1998 ''TIERKREIS'' by

, version for cello with curved bow by Michael Bach Bachtischa in Bayreuth, Germany. * 2004 ''Capriccio'' 1828 for violin solo by

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices fo ...

, version for cello with curved bow by Michael Bach Bachtischa in Worms, Germany. * 2008 New version of ''ONE13'' (1992/2006) for cello with curved bow and 3 tapes, composition by John Cage and Michael Bach Bachtischa, in San Francisco, USA and Stuttgart, Germany. * 2010 ''versbrechen – ein Fingerboard für Kirchner'' for cello with curved bow by Michael Bach Bachtischa, Galerie Stihl Waiblingen, Germany. * 2014 ''locus amoenus'' for cello with curved bow, by Michael Bach Bachtischa, Foundation Domnick, Nürtingen * 2015 ''vierumuns'' for four voices, by Michael Bach Bachtischa, EXVOCO Stuttgart, City Library of Stuttgart * 2018 ''273" für Dieter Schnebel'' for cello with curved bow, by Michael Bach Bachtischa, Kunstbezirk Stuttgart

Publications

*Michael Bach, ''Fingerboards & Overtones, Pictures, Basics and Model for a New Way of Cello Playing'', German and English, edition spangenberg, München, Germany 1991, *Michael Bach, ''Die Suiten für Violoncello von Johann Sebastian Bach'', in '' Das Orchester'' 7-8/1997, Mainz, Germany *Rudolf Gähler: ''Der Rundbogen für die Violine – ein Phantom?'', ConBrio-Fachbuch, Band 5, ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft Regensburg, Germany 1997, *''MUSICAGE'', pages 246–290 and 296, Editor: Joan Retallack, Wesleyan University Press, Hanover, USA 1996, *''

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 ...

'', Centennial Edition, Vol. 1, pages 173/174, Editors: Nicolas Slonimsky and Laura Kuhn, New York, USA 2001 *Jeremy Barlow: ''The Bach Bow'', in: Early music today, London, Great Britain 2003

Radio and TV

* "The Cellist Michael Bach", Moderation: Sabine Fallenstein, 60 minutes, SWR Baden-Baden, Germany 1998 * "The BACH.Bogen", Moderation: Sabine Fallenstein, 10 minutes, SWR Baden-Baden, Germany 2000 * Interview with Michael Bach concerning the „BACH.Bogen", Moderation: Andreas Lindahl, 20 minutes, Sveriges Radio, Sweden 2007 * "Daimei No Nei Ongakukai", Moderation: Toshiro Mayuzumi, Michael Bach and the Tokyo City Philharmonic, Naozumi Yamamoto, Shibuya Public Hall, TV Asahi Tokyo, Japan 1990 * Donaueschinger Musiktage 1994, Concert on 14 October 1994, SWR TV Baden-Baden, Germany 1994 * Radio broadcast on SWR 2, ''Klassik extra'' with Michael Bach, 31 December 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Michael 1958 births German classical cellists German contemporary classical composers German experimental musicians Living people People from Worms, Germany