Rosalyn Tureck Autobiography Details ‘A Life with Bach’
An autobiography by Dr. Rosalyn Tureck (1913–2003) is available from Pendragon Press. Rosalyn Tureck: A Life With Bach explores the author’s lifelong commitment as an interpreter of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Tureck was born into a musical family of Jewish-Russian immigrants to the U.S. and began studying piano at 8. By 16, she auditioned and was accepted at the Juilliard School. As her career began to take off, Tureck popularized performing all-Bach programs on the piano, while advocating for a balanced performance practice that considered historical traditions but also took advantage of modern advances and interpretations—an approach that differed from the “authenticity” movement popular among many of her contemporaries. She would eventually use the term “absolute music” to describe Bach’s work, holding that his music represented a form of art that stood on its own regardless of differences in sound and style, or whether it was performed on a harpsichord of the composer’s time or a modern Moog synthesizer.
The Curtis Institute of Music, which is credited in the forward, contributed to the publishing of this book through the generosity of the Tureck Bach Research Institute.
Learn more about the book from the publisher.
In order to ensure the continuation of collaborative projects, learning, and performances uniquely championed by Dr. Rosalyn Tureck, the Tureck Bach Research Institute merged with the Curtis Institute of Music in 2015, gifting its assets and intellectual property rights to the school and combining two respected institutions dedicated to education and performance at the highest level.
