Logier, Johann Bernhard
Logier, Johann Bernhard
Logier, Johann Bernhard, German pianist, teacher, inventor, and composer; b. Kassel, Feb. 9,1777; d. Dublin, July 27, 1846. After studying with his father, he went to England in 1791. In 1794 he became a flutist in the Marquis of Abercorn’s regimental band, and later its music director. He continued in that capacity afer it was removed to Ireland. Following his discharge in 1807, he conducted a band in Kilkenny and at the Royal Hiberian Theatre in Dublin. He ran his own music store (1810-17) and was active as a teacher. Logier invented the chiroplast or hand-director for holding the hands in the most convenient positions during piano practice. He patented his invention in 1814 and promoted it with fanatic persistence in the face of great controversy. It enjoyed great success in England and Germany. After teaching his method in Berlin (1822-26), he was active in London (1826-29) before settling in Dublin. Logier also promoted the practice of group piano teaching. In reply to numerous polemical attacks on his method, he publ. equally bitter assaults on his detractors.
Writings
(all publ. in London unless otherwise given): An Explanation and Description of the Royal Patent Chiroplast, or Hand-Director for Pianoforte (1814?; second ed., 1816); A Companion to the Royal Patent Chiroplast (1815?); Sequel to the Chiroplast Companion (1815?); Logier’s Theoretical and Practical Studies for the Pianoforte (1816); An Authentic Account of the Examination of Pupils Instructed on the New System of Musical Education, by J.B. Logier (1818); A Refutation of the Fallacies and Misrepresentations (1818); Logier’s Thorough-bass (1818); System der Musik-Wissenschaft und der praktischen Komposition mit Inbegriff dessen was gewöhnlich unter dem Ausdruck General-Bass verstehen wird (Berlin, 1827; Eng. tr., 1827); Nachträgliche Sammlung von Aufgaben und Beispielen zu J.B. Logier’s System der Musik-Wissenschaft und der praktischen Komposition (Berlin, 1827).
Bibliography
G. Pügner, J.B. L.: Ein Musikerzieher des 19. Jahrhunderts (diss., Univ. of Leipzig, 1959).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire