Steven Hancoff
Undergraduate student
Matriculated in 1966 in Annapolis.
Steven Hancoff
List of Publications
- Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 1) (2015)
- Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 2) (2015)
- Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 3) (2015)
- Bach, Casals, & The Six Suites for Cello Solo (Vol. 4) (2015)
- Steel String Guitar (1996)
- New Orleans Guitar Solos (1998)
- Duke Ellington for Solo Guitar (1999)
- 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)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)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)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)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 BabyNew 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 BabyDuke 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 BabyThe 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)