Editing Francis Edward Bache

{{short description|English composer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
'''Francis Edward Bache''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|tʃ}}; 14 September 1833{{snd}}24 August 1858) was an English organist and composer.
[[File:Francis Edward Bache.jpg|thumb|Francis Edward Bache]]
Born at Birmingham as the eldest of seven children of [[Samuel Bache]], a well-known [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister, he studied with [[James Stimpson]], [[Birmingham City Organist]], and with violinist Alfred Mellon while being educated at his father's school. He played the violin in the 1846 Birmingham festival, and in 1849 went to London as a private [[musical composition|composition]] student for three years under [[William Sterndale Bennett]]<ref name="tem1879">Temperley, 1:879.</ref>

In October 1850 Bache became organist of All Saints, Gordon Square. While continuing his studies with [[Sterndale Bennett]], Bache composed [[concerto]]s, [[concert overture|overture]]s, two [[operetta]]s, a [[string quartet]] and a [[piano trio]] along with many piano pieces. He made his debut as a concert performer at [[Keighley]], Yorkshire on 21 January 1851. When he played the Allegro of an unpublished piano concerto of his own in June 1852, Henry Chorley remarked, "We have met with no Englishman for whom we have so long been waiting than Mr. Bache."<ref>Quoted in Temperley, 1:879.</ref> In November 1851 Bache went to live with Mellon, who was then living in London, and in 1852 was given a contract by [[Addison, Hollier and Lucas]] to write light piano pieces; he turned out these works in considerable numbers. Of one of these he wrote, "I must say that I would ''sooner'' have written my ''Galop di Bravura'' than a [[Sonata]] which is only printed to lie on the shelf like a dead weight on account deficiency of anything like idea."<ref name="tem1879" />

In 1853, on Sterndale Bennett's recommendation, Bache continued his musical education at Leipzig. He studied there with [[Moritz Hauptmann]], acquiring the then-conventional prejudices against the music of [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]] and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]. (This would be in sharp contrast to his brother [[Walter Bache|Walter]], who would become a staunch champion of Liszt and Wagner's music.) After visiting [[Dresden]], he returned to London by way of Paris in February 1855. He attended the 1855 Birmingham Festival and reviewed it for some of the local newspapers. Afterwards, he suffered a severe attack of the [[tuberculosis]] that had plagued him for several years.<ref name="tem1879" />

On medical advice, Bache went to Algiers early in 1856. There he gave a concert on 28 March. He travelled by way of Paris to Leipzig, arriving there in June, then through Dresden and Vienna to Rome by December of that year. His health again deteriorated, so he returned home in June 1857. He spent the following winter in [[Torquay]], where he succeeded in giving a concert in February 1858. After his return to Birmingham, his illness continued to progress. He died less than three weeks after a farewell concert of his music on 5 August, at the age of 24.<ref name="tem1879" />

According to an evaluation in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]], {{blockquote|Considering the early age at which he died, his compositions are fairly numerous, and the best, a [[piano trio|trio]] for [[piano]] and [[String instruments|strings]], was long held in high esteem. Two [[operetta]]s, a [[piano concerto]] and a number of published pianoforte pieces and songs do little more than show how great was his promise.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bache, Francis Edward|volume=3|page=132}}</ref>}}

His younger brother, [[Walter Bache]] (1842–1888), was a successful [[pianist]] and [[conductor (music)|conductor]].

A memoir of the two brothers, by their sister [[Constance Bache]], appeared in 1901 under the title ''Brother Musicians''.

==Selected works==
* ''Andante and Allegro'' in D major, for organ
* ''5 Charakterstücke'' for piano, op. 15 (pub. 1855)
* ''Duo brillante'' for violin and piano
* Flute Concerto (1852)
* 3 Impromptus for piano, op. 1
* ''4 Mazurkas de Salon'', op. 13 (pub. 1855)
* ''6 Melodies'', songs for voice and piano, op. 16 (1850)
* Piano Concerto in E major, op. 18 (1856)
* Piano Trio in D minor, op. 25 (c. 1852, pub. 1865)
* ''Polonaise'' for piano and orchestra, op. 9 (1854)
* ''2 Romances'' for violin and piano (or cello and piano), op. 21 (pub. 1859)
* ''Rubezahl'', opera (1852)
* ''Souvenirs d'Italie'' for piano, op. 19
* ''Souvenirs de Torquay'' for piano, op. 26 (pub. 1859)
* String Quartet in F major, (1851)
* ''Which is Which'', opera

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Bache, Constance, ''Brother Musicians: Reminiscences of Edward and Walter Bache'' (London: Methuen & Co., 1901). {{ISBN|1-120-26866-4}}
* {{Cite Grove1900|wstitle= Bache, Francis |volume= 1.4 | page= 120 |year=1900| short=}}
* Temperley, Nicholas, "'''Bache'''. English family of musicians. '''(1) Francis Edward Bache'''," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, First Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 1980), 20 vols. {{ISBN|0-333-23111-2}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bache, Francis Edward}}
[[Category:1833 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:19th-century English musicians]]
[[Category:19th-century English male musicians]]
[[Category:English opera composers]]
[[Category:English Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in England]]
[[Category:English male opera composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands]]