Bach, Maria (1896–1978)
Bach, Maria (1896–1978)
Austrian composer, pianist, violinist, and artist. Born in Vienna, Austria, on March 11, 1896; died in Vienna on February 26, 1978; related to Johann Sebastian Bach; one of four daughters ofLenore von Bach (a well-known soprano and concert singer) and Robert Freiherr von Bach (a violinist and government official); studied with Josef Marx and Ivan Boutnikoff.
Maria Bach began her musical career at age six when she entered the Grimm Piano School in Baden bei Wien, a suburb of Vienna. She won five of the school's six prizes during her tenure there and gave her first concert at age ten. At first, she studied violin under Arnold Rose but returned to the piano and studied under Paul de Conne. She was 19 when she wrote Flohtanz, a piece for piano which attracted the attention of influential critic Julius Korngold. Bach decided to study composition with Josef Marx and instrumentation under the conductor Ivan Boutnikoff. Her Narrenlied composed in 1924 established her reputation in Vienna as an up-and-coming composer. In 1962, she won the Premio Internationale para Compositores Buenos Aires prize. An orchestral, chamber, and piano composer, she set the works of Hesse, Rilke, Rimbaud, Nietzsche and others to music.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia