Synthesizer pioneer Herbert Deutsch passed away last night. He was 90 years old. Let’s see more about this American Composer and his Cause of death in detail.
Who was Herbert Deutsch?
Herb Deutsch, the trumpeter-pianist-Theremin player-composer-Moog synthesizer co-creator and jazz-inspired improviser. As the first in a series named Giants, Moog Music has created a video interview with this retired professor of Hofstra University, where he taught composition and electronic music.
He’s been less frequently acknowledged in the history of the revolution in musical possibilities brought about by physical architecture for generating and processing electronic sound waves than his friend Dr. Robert Moog, West Coast designer Don Buchla, or their precursor Leon Theremin.
Deutsch was there, directing an improvising electro-acoustic ensemble at Manhattan’s Town Hall and the Museum of Modern Art sculpture garden, during the mid-’60s explosion of electronic music by such visionaries as Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley and Morton Subotnick, Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock, and Jimi Hendrix.
Herbert Deutsch in connection with R.A. Moog
Herb had a long-standing relationship with Moog Music in Buffalo as well as R.A. Moog Co. He and Bob had an extremely close relationship that lasted their entire lives.
Since the beginning of both organizations, he has been a supporter of the Bob Moog Foundation and the Moogseum.
Herb was a brilliant musician, a long-time instructor, and a pioneer of electronic music. He was also a remarkable person who gained the admiration of everyone he met. Although the Bob Moog Foundation will always preserve his legacy, he will be sorely missed.
Recordings and Collections
The fact that Deutsch was a jazz lover who was passionate about real-time improvisation, puts the cherry on top of his status as a significant character in 20th-century musical invention and re-conception.
“Jazz Images, a Worksong and Blues,” from 1965—credited as the first piece for a Moog—features bluesy piano and horn parts intertwined with thick and thin electronic lines, unusually lengthy fades, whirling sirens, white noise, delays, and possibly backward tape.
James Baldwin, John Coltrane, and Dr. Martin Luther King all had deep things to say about Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1963), a prescient combination of found sounds, spoken word, and eerie ambiance that was a contemporary response to the Alabama church bombing that killed four young girls.
The piece by Deutsch is still powerful, and it makes me think of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s quintet with Junior Cook and Kenny Barron, electronics, and Ilhan Mimarolu’s heartbreaking Sing Me The Song of Songmy (1971).
Herb and the “Bob Moog”
Herb first came across the name “Bob Moog” when reading an Electronics World Magazine article written by the engineer that explained the process of creating a theremin, an instrument of considerable interest to Herb at the time.
Two years later, Herb, a recently hired college lecturer, met Bob at the Rochester, New York, All-State Music Festival in 1963. Bob had gone to the festival to display a variety of theremins.
A quick bond was established over a common fascination with the electrical manipulation of sound, and shortly after this fortuitous encounter, the idea for the Moog Synthesizer, a new electronic musical instrument, was born.
Herbert Deutsch Cause of Death
The Bob Moog Foundation announced that “It is with the deepest sadness and reverence that we share that synthesizer pioneer Herb Deutsch passed away last night. He was 90 years old”.
Condolences Posted on Social Media
The Bob Moog Foundation Posted
We send our deepest condolences to Herb’s wonderful wife Nancy, to his loving family, and to all of those who knew and loved him.
Roger Hooper Posted
Thank you, Herb, for your incredible contributions to the world of music, and beyond. Very sad.
Robert Littauer Posted
This is a great loss. After Walter Sear left us, I took comfort that Herb was still alive for so much longer. RIP Herb. Thanks for all you helped create.
Dina Alcalay Pearlman-Ifil Posted
Very sad. He was so kind and generous when we met, such a lovely man of grace. And great stories!!! A true gentleman!
Malcolm W. Doak Posted
Oh, such sad news. I only met him a few times, but I found him to be warm, humorous and brimming with vitality. He certainly had an honored place in the pantheon of electronic music Titans. I offer my deepest condolences to all, and especially to the greater Moog family.
🙏Posted by @MoogFoundation: “It is with the deepest sadness and reverence that we share that synthesizer pioneer Herb Deutsch passed away last night. He was 90 years old. There is nobody more important to the Moog legacy than Herb. …” pic.twitter.com/IJYMzPX7Oz
— The Raymond Scott Archives (@_Raymond_Scott_) December 10, 2022
Our hearts are heavy with the news that musician and synth pioneer Herb Deutsch has passed away. His legacy cannot be underestimated. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and fans. https://t.co/ZTyXMgEJ4a
— Cherry Audio (@cherryaudiovst) December 10, 2022
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