Emilie Marie Baroness von Bach (1896–1978) was an Austrian pianist, violinist, composer and artist.
Early life and family
Maria Bach was born in Vienna, Austria, on 11 March 1896. Her parents were Robert Bonaventura Michael Wenzel von Bach and Eleonore Josepha Maria Theresia Auguste Bach. In 1897, she moved with her family to the castle, Leesdorf, in Baden, Austria.[1] Bach's father, Robert, was an attorney, painter, and violinist.[2] Her mother, Elenore, was both a singer and composer who performed under the conductors Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms. Maria had two older sisters, Theresa and Katharina, and a younger sister, named Henriette. Theresa wrote poetry that was put to Bach's music. Katharina married into a highly aristocratic family. Henriette was a solo cellist.[3] Marie took piano lessons at the Musikschule Grimm in Baden and at the age of fourteen began violin lessons.[4]
Early music
Maria Bach began private piano lessons at the age of five with a faculty member at the Grimm School of Music.[5] She would later take lessons with Paul De Conne in 1912.[6] At the same time, she also began violin lessons with Jaroslav Suchy of the Vienna Opera.[6] She played second violin and viola in her father's in-house string ensemble. Bach's parents demanded that both she and Henriette perform long and consistent hours of individual practice. The two daughters would regularly have three hour music reading sessions for learning classical and romantic chamber music. In 1914, she started composing her first prelude, which she followed with songs and other piano pieces.[7] On Sundays Maria and Henriette were allowed to perform at their family's soirees, gatherings where music was performed by the Bach family, when they became more experienced with their instruments.[8] In 1917, Bach composed "Flohtanz (Flea's Dance)." In "Flohtanz" the lively solo piano lasts for approximately three minutes.
Education
Maria Bach began studying composition at the Vienna Academy of Music with Joseph Marx in 1919.[9] Under the tutelage of Marx, Bach wrote four-part fugues, brief piano scores, and analyzed the music of Chopin, Debussy, and Stravinsky.[10] Marx would later help Bach develop her own personal style of composing.[11] She made her debut as a composer in 1921 with Narrenlieder für Tenor und Orchester, a song cycle which was later printed by Schott in Vienna.
Vienna Academy of Music (1919-1925)
Maria began studying at the Vienna Academy of Music in 1919 studying composition under the tutelage of Joseph Marx with whom she analyzed the music of Chopin, Debussy, and Stravinsky.[11] While studying under Marx, Bach specialized in writing four-part fugues and brief piano scores.[10] Marx would later help Bach develop her own style of composing by utilizing variations in rhythms and sonorities.[11]
Music during World War II
During the war, the Nazi party established music prohibitions in Austria. Due to their preference for classical music, which was considered conservative and traditional, "modern" compositions were not allowed to be performed. However, Bach's compositions were deemed both conservative and traditional among Nazi standards and were deemed acceptable to be performed.[12]
Relationships and marriage
During the 1920s Bach developed a relationship with Ivan Boutnikoff, a Russian composer and conductor. Boutnikoff later became her mentor in conducting and orchestration. On 7 October 1952 Bach married Arturo Ciacelli. The two stayed married until Ciacelli's death in 1966.[13] Ciacelli was an Italian painter who taught art at The Italian School in Vienna from 1939 to 1941.[13] During their time together, Bach began painting landscapes, mainly of Italy.[14] After she began to exhibit, her paintings became almost more successful than her compositions. Ciacelli died in 1966 and for a while Bach gave up creative endeavors, but eventually began to compose again. She received a gold medal for composition in 1962 and was awarded the title of professor in 1976.[15]
Death
Bach died on 26 February 1978, possibly from inhalation of a gas leakage from her defective oven in her apartment in Vienna.[16] Her papers are housed in the City Hall Library in Vienna.[17]
1932 Sieben altjapanische Lieder (Seven Old-Japanese Songs)
1938 Silhouetten (Silhouettes)
1937 Silhouetten (Silhouettes)
1920 Skizzen zu einer 4-stimmigen Fuge (Sketches for Four Part Fugue)
1925 Sommerallein (Summer Alone)
1922 Sonate für Violoncello (Sonata for Solo Cello)
1922 Sonate für Violoncello und Klavier (Sonata for Cello and Piano)
1944 Sommerwiese (Summer Meadow)
1925 Spätsommer (Late Summer)
1939 Stratosfera (Stratosphere)
1935 Streichquartett Nr. 1 (String Quartet no.1)
1942 Streichquartett Nr. 2 (String Quartet no.2)
1936 Streichquintett (String Quintet)
1948 Tänze (Dances)
1956 Thema und Variationen (Theme and Variations)
1918 Tief ist der Abgrund (Deep in the Abyss)
1977 Toccata
1918 Tod (Death)
1968 Trennung und Wiederkehr (Separation and Recovery)
1939 Trunk’ne Nacht (Drunken Night)
1918 Über ein Grab hin (Above a Grave)
1968 Und ich trug die Seligkeit (And I Wore the Bliss)
1946 Unkenlied (Toads Song)
1965 Unter Feinden (The Departed)
1920 Variationen 4-16 (Variations 4-16)
1918 Verhängnis (Doom)
1959 Verklungen längst die Lieder (Songs Long Faded Away)
1927 Verlassenheit (Abandonment)
1938 Via mystica
1941 Vier Lieder des Hafis (Four Songs of Hafiz)
1926 Wenn wie ein leises Flügelbreiten (If such a low wing widens)
1940 Wie damals
1941 Wie damals
1953 Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
1917 Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
1951 Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
1952 Wie schön bist du mein Wien (How Beautiful You Are, My Vienna)
1952 Wild Myrtle
1940 Wildenten (Wild Ducks)
1927 Will dir den Frühling zeigen (Will show you the Spring)
1946 Winterlicher Garten (Winter Garden)
1925 Wir saßen beide in Gedanken (We sat Deep in Thoughts)
1925 Wir wandeln Gott entgegen (We Walk towards God)
1927 Wolgaquintett (Volga Quintet)
1926 Wunde Liebe (Wound of Love)
1953 Wunden (Wounds)
1948 Zwei Fenster (Two Windows)
1957 Zyklus Wiener Veduten (Views of Vienna. A cycle)
References
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 110. ISBN9780252094132.
^Geber, Eva; Rotter, Sonja; Schneider, Marietta (1992). Die Frauen Wiens: ein Stadtbuch für Fanny, Frances und Francesca.
^Porter, Cecelia (2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 111. ISBN9780252094132.
^ abPorter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 113. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 115. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. pp. 109, 110. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 120. ISBN9780252094132.
^ abPorter, Cecelia (2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 121. ISBN9780252094132.
^ abcPorter, Cecelia (2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. p. 122. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 125. ISBN9780252094132.
^ abPorter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 127. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 130. ISBN9780252094132.
^Porter, Cecelia (15 August 2012). Five Lives in Music : Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios From the Baroque to the Present. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2012. p. 132. ISBN9780252094132.
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