BACHE

bache, francis edward (1833-1858), english musical composer, was born in birmingham on the 14th of september 1833. the pupil of alfred mellon for violin and sterndale bennett for composition, he afterwards went to leipzig in 1853 and studied with hauptmann and plaidy. considering the early age at which he died, his compositions are fairly numerous, and the best, a trio for piano and strings, is still held in high esteem. two operettas, a piano concerto and a number of published pianoforte pieces and songs do little more than show how great was his promise. he died at birmingham of consumption on the 24th of august 1858. his younger brother, walter bache (1842-1888), was born in birmingham on the 19th of june 1842, and followed him to the leipzig conservatorium, where he became an excellent pianist. from 1862 to 1865 he studied with liszt in rome, and for many years devoted himself to the task of winning popularity for his master's works in england. at his annual concerts in london nearly all liszt's larger works were heard for the first time in england, and on the occasion of liszt's last visit to england in 1886, he was entertained by bache at a memorable reception at the grosvenor gallery. walter bache was professor of the pianoforte at the royal academy of music for some years before his death, and the foundation of the liszt scholarship at that institution was mainly due to his efforts. he died in london on the 26th of march 1888. an interesting memoir of the two brothers, by miss constance bache, appeared in 1901 under the title _brother musicians_. bachelor (from med. lat. _baccalarius_, with its late and rare variant _baccalaris_--cf. ital. _baccalare_--through o. fr. _bacheler_), in the most general sense of the word, a young man. the word, however, as it possesses several widely distinct applications, has passed through many meanings, and its ultimate origin is still involved in a certain amount of obscurity. the derivation from welsh _bach_, little, is mentioned as "possible" by skeat (_etymological dictionary_), but is "definitely discarded" by the _new english dictionary_, and that given here is suggested as probable. the word _baccalarius_ was applied to the tenant of a _baccalaria_ (from _baccalia_, a herd of cows, _bacca_ being a low latin variant of _vacca_), which was presumably at first a grazing farm and was practically the same as a _vaselleria_, _i.e._ the fief of a sub-vassal. just, however, as the character and the size of the _baccalaria_ varied in different ages, so the word _baccalarius_ changed its significance; thus in the 8th century it was applied to the _rustici_, whether men or women (_baccalariae_), who worked for the tenant of a _mansus_. throughout all its meanings the word has retained the idea of subordination suggested in this origin. thus it came to be applied to various categories of persons as follows.--(1) ecclesiastics of an inferior grade, _e.g._ young monks or even recently appointed canons (severtius, _de episcopis lugdunensibus_, p. 377, in du cange). (2) those belonging to the lowest stage of knighthood. knights bachelors were either poor vassals who could not afford to take the field under their own banner, or knights too young to support the responsibility and dignity of knights bannerets (see knighthood and chivalry). (3) those holding the preliminary degree of a university, enabling them to proceed to that of master (_magister_) which alone entitled them to teach. in this sense the word _baccalarius_ or _baccalaureus_ first appears at the university of paris in the 13th century in the system of degrees established under the auspices of pope gregory