Walter Bache

Walter Bache (/ˈbeɪtʃ/; 19 June 1842 – 26 March 1888) was an English pianist and conductor noted for his championing the music of Franz Liszt and other music of the New German School in England. He studied privately with Liszt in Italy from 1863 to 1865, one of the few students allowed to do so, and continued to attend Liszt's master classes in Weimar, Germany regularly until 1885, even after embarking on a solo career. This period of study was unparalleled by any other student of Liszt and led to a particularly close bond between Bache and Liszt. After initial hesitation on the part of English music critics because he was a Liszt pupil, Bache was publicly embraced for his keyboard prowess, even as parts of his repertoire were questioned.

Bache's major accomplishment was the establishment of Liszt's music in England, to which he selflessly devoted himself between 1865 and his death in 1888. This was at the height of the War of the Romantics, when conservative and liberal musical factions openly argued about the future of classical music and the merits of the compositions written in their respective schools. Bache featured several of the orchestral and choral works through an annual series of concerts, which he single-handedly funded, organised and promoted. Likewise, he played an annual series of solo recitals that incorporated Liszt's piano music.

Bache's strategy for presenting these works was one of familiarity. He performed two-piano arrangements of Liszt's orchestral works prior to the debuts of the original versions, and performed some of Liszt's symphonic poems shortly after they had been premiered at the Crystal Palace. He also provided informative, scholarly program notes, written by leading musical analysts and intimates in the Liszt circle. The English musical press, while generally hostile to the music he presented, noted and appreciated Bache's efforts. Liszt remained grateful; without Bache, he acknowledged, his music might not have gained the foothold that it did.

Bache was born in Birmingham, the second-oldest son of well-known Unitarian minister Samuel Bache, who ran a private school in conjunction with his wife, Emily Higginson. His older brother, Francis Edward Bache, was a composer and organist, while his sister, Constance Bache, was a composer, pianist and teacher who would write a joint biography of both brothers under the title Brother Musicians. He received some rudimentary musical education at his father's school, but remained a carefree, undistinguished and funloving child until he followed in Edward's footsteps. Like Edward, he studied with Birmingham City Organist James Stimpson and in August 1858, aged 16, he travelled to Germany to attend the Leipzig Conservatory. His father was supposed to accompany him to the university, but was detained at the bedside of Edward, who was dying of consumption. Undeterred, he made the journey on his own, an early indication of his independence.

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