Steven Hancoff

Undergraduate student

Matriculated in 1966 in Annapolis.

Steven Hancoff

Author Profile

Robert Schumann once said: "The purpose of art is to send light into the darkness of men’s hearts."

On the other hand, according to a musicologist who in 1749, the year before Johann Sebastian Bach died, wrote: "The overmuch practice of music is apt to lead the young astray into a life of dissipation."

Jazz Review Magazine once wrote that I am “an interpretive master who plays with fluidity, grace and passion.” Very cool!

I don’t know about all that – but the critics who write about these things were mostly swept away by each of my four previous recordings - from Ragtime to Tin Pan Alley to New Orleans Jazz to Duke Ellington. Believe me, I have made sure you can read all the nice things they wrote – it’s all on my websites, stevenhancoff.com and stevehancoff.com. I only wish they’d sold more!

For about fifteen years, I toured the world – about 50 countries – as an official Artistic Ambassador representing the United States of America. And, boy, did I have some amazing experiences! So many grand adventures, all the interesting people, breathtaking places…

The concerts – the music and the story of the great American music tradition, woven together with tales of the men and women who created it – have captivated audiences everywhere.

Now, after years of intense devotion to what has become my life’s work, my four-volume ebook – Bach, Casals & the Six Suites for ‘Cello Solo, which -- believe it or not, started out as liner notes! – is all done.

You can get my recording of the Six Suites for ‘Cello Solo by J. Sebastian Bach on iTunes and wherever you can still buy CDs.

And to top it off, I will make the scores of my transcriptions of all 36 of these masterpieces available to any guitarists who want to get a look at them. I hope a lot of guitar players will take the opportunity to try their hands, so to speak, at learning to play this wonderful music.

Besides being a musician, I am a grateful graduate of tiny (My graduating class had 38 members.) St. John’s College, esteemed for its singular “One Hundred Great Books of the Western World” program. I have also been a Rolfer™ for about 40 years, and I am proud to be a member of the Grand Canyon River Guides Association.

REVIEWS:
Steel String Guitar
"…Brimming with vitality and grace…"
Washington Post

New Orleans Guitar Solos
"Guitarists will be amazed … an important recording."
Fact Sheet Five

Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar
"… A master’s skill and a musicologist’s knowledge."
Outsight Magazine

The Single Petal of a Rose
"… A complete master of his instrument."
Jazz Hot

Links

StevenHancoff.com
Purchase Six Suites for 'Cello Solo for Acoustic Guitar
Critical reviews
Artist reviews
A letter from Julius Lester

List of Publications

  1. Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 1) (2015)
  2. Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 2) (2015)
  3. Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 3) (2015)
  4. Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 4) (2015)
  5. Steel String Guitar (1996)
  6. New Orleans Guitar Solos (1998)
  7. Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar (1999)
  8. The Single Petal of a Rose: Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar (Vol. 2) (2004)

Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 1) (Interactive book)

Year of publication: 2015

Publisher: Steven Hancoff

Description: The Life of J. Sebastian Bach is the story of the great man’s life… Did you know that by the time he was nine years old, Bach had witnessed the death of three siblings, and then in one year the death of his father and then his mother? Or that at the age of 35, after three of his children had died, his wife – Maria Barbara Bach, the love of his life – died? Or that he lived the last 27 years of his life in obscurity, turning out masterpieces even while holding down a day job teaching Latin and leading a boys’ choir? Designed to take advantage of all of all the interactive elements of Apple I-Books, The Life of J. Sebastian Bach is copiously illustrated, with hundreds of period pictures - portraits, oils, watercolors, stained glass, photographs, etchings and engravings, authentic documents, sculptures, statues and monuments. The Life of J. Sebastian Bach includes four beautiful and compelling videos. And not only that, more than 200 contemporary artists from all over the world have contributed hundreds of spectacular works of art, all of them inspired by the music of J. S. Bach.

Publication Links

Purchase Vol. 1 iBook (for Apple devices)
Back to top of list

Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 2) (Interactive Book)

Year of publication: 2015

Publisher: Steven Hancoff

Description: The Legacy of J. Sebastian Bach tells the tale of his death at the hands of a quack, his remarkable family – he fathered five sons all of whom were more renowned as composers in their lifetimes than he was in his! - the 80 years of near-total obscurity following his death, the discovery and bringing to light his incomparable work by the teen-aged Felix Mendelssohn, and finally the gathering together of the more than 1,000 extant works – probably only a bit more than half of his life’s work. As Beethoven said of him: “His name should not have been Bach (“Bach” means stream or brook in German.). It should have been Ocean." The Legacy of J. S. Bach is highly illustrated, with an interactive map showing Bach’s sojourn and family trees, hundreds of period pictures - portraits, oils, watercolors, stained glass, photographs, etchings and engravings, authentic documents, sculptures, statues and monuments.

Publication Links

Purchase Vol. 2 iBook (for Apple devices)
Back to top of list

Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 3) (Interactive Book)

Year of publication: 2015

Publisher: Steven Hancoff

Description: Pablo Casals and the Six Suites for ‘Cello Solo is actually two books in one. First, the dynamic and heroic life of Pablo Casals, and the spectacularly unlikely serendipity of his having stumbled upon Bach’s Cello Suites when he was only 13 years old, and his artistic vision and perseverance in working on them and bringing them to life 12 years later may well be the single greatest cultural contribution of any 20th century artist. The second half addresses the inevitable question of what is the ultimate meaning of the Six Suites? Why did Bach, the great keyboardist, compose such a profoundly personal statement for what was then such an obscure four-stringed instrument? What is the interaction between the emotional, archetypal and profoundly personal expression of the spirit of J. S. Bach?

Publication Links

Purchase Vol. 3 iBook (for Apple devices)
Back to top of list

Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 4) (Interactive Book)

Year of publication: 2015

Publisher: Steven Hancoff

Description: From Tragedy to Transcendence consists almost entirely of nine animated videos, and seeks to articulate the mystery of the greatness of Bach: he did not let personal tragedy define his life, nor turn him to negativity. Rather, the miracle of Bach is in his ability to unify the expression of breathtaking beauty, primal emotion, vast power and intellectual rigor, and to do so on a giant canvas. Volume 4 unifies music, narration and more than 300 pieces of contemporary art in gorgeous video to tell the story of J. S. Bach who, like some bodhisattva, was born to translate and transmit the Sound of Heaven to us all. Or, as the great Casals most elegantly put it, Music is the Divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.

Publication Links

Purchase Vol. 4 iBook (for Apple devices)
Back to top of list

Steel String Guitar (CD recording)

Year of publication: 1996

Genre: Jazz: Ragtime

Description: "Like Jelly-Roll Morton's 'piano as orchestra,' 'guitar as orchestra.'" (Mississippi Rag)

Publication Links

Purchase Steel String Guitar on CD Baby
Back to top of list

New Orleans Guitar Solos (CD recording)

Year of publication: 1998

Genre: Blues: Jazzy blues

Description: "...Steve Hancoff proves there is no limit to what can be done with an acoustic guitar in the hands of a master." (Jersey Jazz)

Publication Links

Purchase New Orleans Guitar Solos on CD Baby
Back to top of list

Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar (CD recording)

Year of publication: 1999

Genre: Jazz: Ragtime

Description: "One of the year's top ten." (All About Jazz) "A cross between Jim Hall and Merle Travis"

Publication Links

Purchase Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar on CD Baby
Back to top of list

The Single Petal of a Rose: Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar (Vol. 2) (CD Recording)

Year of publication: 2004

Genre: Jazz: Swing/Big Band

Description: Delightful acoustic guitar compositions built on early jazz, dixieland, swing, gypsy touch and classical weaving. "...A master's skill and a musicologists's knowledge." (Outsight Magazine)

Publication Links

Purchase The Single Petal of a Rose on CD Baby
Back to top of list

Scroll to Top