page_title: Walter Bache
section_title: Promoting Liszt's music
hierarchical_section_title: Walter Bache / Life / Promoting Liszt's music
caption_attribution_description: English: Hans von Bülow, half-length portrait, standing, facing right, holding cigarette in holder. Photographer: E. Bieber, Berlin u. Hamburg, photographer to the court. Published: New York Breitkopf &amp; Härtel, between 1880 and 1894. Bieber sold this work in the form of photo-cards, as evidenced by these copies published in 1889&#91;1&#93; and 1897.&#91;2&#93;Deutsch: Hans von Bülow, Teilportrait, stehend, nach rechts blickend, eine Zigarette im Zigarettenhalter haltend. Fotograf: E. Bieber, Berlin und Hamburg, Hoffotograf. Veröffentlicht: New York Breitkopf &amp; Härtel, zwischen 1880 und 1894.
context_page_description: Walter Bache 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.
context_section_description: Before he moved to Rome, in June 1863, Bache returned to Birmingham to raise funds for the erection of a memorial window to his brother Edward. Among these efforts was a performance of Mendelssohn's oratorio St. Paul, at which his organ playing was noted, and a solo piano recital which featured a few pieces by Liszt. Critics proved unreceptive to Liszt's music and Bache was advised to program less adventurous works if he wanted his career to succeed. Matters had not improved when Bache settled in London in 1865. The War of the Romantics between musically conservative and liberal factions was in full swing and he found himself branded as "dangerous" for having studied with Liszt. This was vividly illustrated when Bache called upon J. W. Davison, then the most powerful music critic in London. Such a call was not unwarranted: Davison had been acquainted with Edward and shared that brother's conservative musical views. Bache related that when he called on Davison and handed in his card, the maid returned and told him, "Please, sir, Mr. Davison says that he is not at home."
  Dangerous or not, Bache soon began a lifelong crusade to win popularity for Liszt's works in England. In 1865 he began a series of annual concerts in conjunction with singer Gustave Garcia. They began modestly, in Collard's Rooms, Grosvenor Street. As they increased in popularity, they were relocated to the more spacious Beethoven Rooms in Cavendish Square, then to the Queen's Concert Rooms in Hanover Square, and finally to St James's Hall in Regents Square. At first these concerts were of instrumental and chamber works and piano arrangements. In 1868, they had grown to include choral works, which allowed pieces such as Liszt's Soldatenlied and choruses from Wagner's Tannhäuser and Lohengrin to be programmed. By 1871, the concerts had been changed to an orchestral format.
  The concerts, which were held in February or March and continued until 1886, became known as the "Walter Bache Annual Concerts." They became fixtures on the London music scene, attracting the attention of the press and of eminent musicians. While some of the press coverage he received was positive, overall Bache faced a continual barrage of opposition and scorn from critics and fellow musicians over the music he presented. The notice printed in the Athenaeum after the first concert was typical: "On Tuesday, M. Gustave Garcia, one of the best of rising baritones, and Mr. Walter Bache gave a concert in company. We cannot think Les Préludes, a very difficult duett [sic] by the Abbé Liszt for two pianofortes, worth the labour bestowed on it by a couple of players so skilled as himself and Mr. Dannreuther. It was well received however." Largely through Bache's perseverance, at least some of the public was gradually convinced of the music's worth.
  At these concerts, Bache frequently appeared as soloist, accompanist or conductor, but he also engaged other artists in an attempt to show he was not giving the concerts out of self-aggrandizement. Bülow conducted two concerts, Edward Dannreuther led the orchestra in two concerts. August Manns, the conductor of a series of orchestral concerts held at the Crystal Palace and an admirer of Liszt's works, led four concerts. The majority of instrumentalists engaged were also members of the Crystal Palace orchestra to ensure the level of performance was as high as possible. Among guest soloists was the noted violinist August Wilhelmj, who played the Bach Chaconne in D minor at one concert.
  For these concerts, Bache programmed five of Liszt's symphonic poems, the Faust and Dante symphonies, the Thirteenth Psalm and the Legend of St. Elisabeth. Works of Berlioz, Schumann and Wagner were also featured, but Liszt's compositions predominated. While the performances of the Faust and Dante symphonies were British premieres, the symphonic poems had previously been introduced at the Crystal Palace; nevertheless, Bache felt that offering repeat performances of the symphonic poems was important in making them familiar to audiences. Les préludes was performed three tim
caption: Hans von Bülow conducted two of the Walter Bache Annual Concerts
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