Herb Deutsch Remembered

US Bob Moog Foundation announces donation of historical materials from estate of Herb Deutsch 06/12/23

The Bob Moog Foundation has announced that it has received a significant donation of archival materials from the estate of electronic music pioneer Herb Deutsch. They say that the collection will become part of the Bob Moog Foundation Archives. Herb Deutsch was a professor Emeritus at Hofstra University and collaborated with Bob Moog on the prototype of the Moog synthesizer in 1964. The two men went on to have a long working relationship and a lifelong friendship. Deutsch passed away on December 9, 2022, just shy of his 91st birthday. Here's the details direct from the Foundation...

The collection of archival materials, which totals nearly 300 items, was donated to the Bob Moog Foundation Archives by Deutsch's widow, Nancy Deutsch. Items in the collection range from vintage musical instruments to historic photos, correspondence, notes, invoices, reel-to-reel tapes, vintage catalogs, service and instructional manuals, and much more. Highlights from the collection include a 1961 R.A. Moog Melodia theremin; a vintage R.A. Moog Minimoog, serial number 1093 (one of the first one hundred ever produced); original correspondence between Moog and Deutsch during the seminal period of their work together from 1963 and 1964; an 84-minute reel-to-reel tape of Moog explaining how the prototype Moog synthesizer works; and a tape of the landmark "Jazz In the Garden" concert held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on August 28, 1969.

This remarkable collection represents an extraordinary addition to the vast and growing Bob Moog Foundation Archives. It will empower the Bob Moog Foundation to steward Deutsch's legacy alongside that of Bob Moog's.

"Herb Deutsch is an integral part of the Moog legacy, and his history deserves to be examined and understood," noted the Bob Moog Foundation's executive director, Michelle Moog-Koussa. "We are thrilled to accept this generous donation from Nancy Deutsch, and we look forward to many years of protecting and sharing these materials with researchers, historians, journalists, and museums around the world. We are truly honored to steward this extraordinary collection."

"We are excited to share my beloved husband Herb's substantial collection of archival materials through the Bob Moog Foundation Archives," noted Nancy Deutsch. "Through this material, Herb's pioneering work will be brought to life. It is heartening to know that, through the Bob Moog Foundation, the story of Herb and Bob's groundbreaking work together will be shared with people all over the world."

Material from the Bob Moog Foundation Archives has been shared at the Moogseum, the Museum of Making Music, the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), The History Center of Tompkins County, Google Arts and Cultures Music, Makers, and Machines online exhibition, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

Herb Deutsch
Herbert Deutsch was a composer, author, educator, and performer, and was Professor of Music at Hofstra University for 57 years. He is a composer of music in various media and his work has been widely performed, and commissioned works have been featured at national and regional conferences. In 1972, Deutsch co-founded the Long Island Composers Alliance. During his career at Hofstra, he founded Jazz Ensemble, Electronic Music Studios, New Music Ensemble, and created the B.S. Degree programs in Jazz, Composition/Theory and Music Business. He received the George Estabrook Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996 and the Hofstra Alumni Achievement Award in 2001. The Music Department has established the Herbert Deutsch Award for highest honors in Music Education.

In 1964, Deutsch collaborated with Robert A. Moog on the development of the Moog Synthesizer and, in September of 1965, his "New York Improvisation Quartet" presented the Moog's first live program at Town Hall in New York City. He was a member and judge of The NY State School Music Association's Composition and Improvisation Committee and a clinician in composition sessions at New York's All-State Conference.

From the year 2000 through his passing in 2022, Deutsch focused most of his composition work on pieces for chamber ensembles. In this period, he composed for his wife Nancy, and for many personal friends and locations which had been important to Deutsch.

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