Jacques Bach

Biography

Jacques Bach was born June 22, 1833, at Lorentzen in Alsace. Intended by his family for the priesthood, he instead apprenticed as a cabinet maker and, at twenty, sailed for America after a ten-week voyage, arriving destitute in New York. In 1853 he found work at the piano factory of Stodart and Morris, rising to superintendent on the strength of his fluency in French and German (and later English) and his expert judgment of wood. In 1864 he joined the co-operative New York Pianoforte Company, and in 1866 led, with Helmuth Kranich, a breakaway group that formed Kranich, Bach and Company. Where Kranich was the reserved artist devoted to tone, Bach was the bold, enthusiastic partner who loved the mechanics of woodworking and took the firm's pianos on the road to merchants, convincing them of their quality. Frugal and shrewd, Bach helped build the firm into a major success before succumbing to a long-standing illness in 1894. From Spillane (1890): J. Bach was born in Germany and was a practical piano-maker skilled in a special department of the trade. In 1864 he co-founded Kranich & Bach with H. Kranich; the firm progressed from unpretentious beginnings to a steadily established manufacturing business by around 1875.

Highlights

• Co-founded Kranich, Bach and Company in 1866 with Helmuth Kranich
• Rose to superintendent of the Stodart and Morris piano factory in New York
• Handled the business and woodworking side of the firm while Kranich handled tone/artistry
• Co-founded Kranich & Bach in 1864 with H. Kranich.

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 123, 125.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 250.

Public domain.