PAUL JACOBS

PIANIST

The first well-known classical musician to contract HIV, Jacobs died in 1983, but the New York Times declined to give AIDS as the cause of death in his obituary, thinking perhaps that it was shameful. Jacobs had wished it to be made public, however, and writers in other publications were quick to point out the importance of making it clear that AIDS does not discriminate, but kills talented artists as well as ordinary people. They made it a matter of public record that Jacobs had died of AIDS, September 25, 1983, in New York City.

An acknowledged expert on modern music, Paul Jacobs was born in New York on June 22, 1930. A child prodigy who attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York, he spent the years 19511961 in Europe where he studied avant garde music. Back in New York, in 1962 he became the pianist of the New York Philharmonic and in 1974 he was made the orchestra's official harpsichordist too.

Jacobs had the technique to be a major soloist, but he did not wish that kind of career. He made some outstanding solo recordings on Nonesuch, notably music of Stravinsky and Debussy, and they are still available. Among the commissions to honor the 150th anniversary of the Philharmonic in the 1992-1993 season is a work for piano and orchestra, Bang by Tobias Picker. It is dedicated to the memory of Paul Jacobs.

In the decade since Jacobs died, AIDS has claimed many other musicians and talented high achievers in such fields as theater, athletics, and government. In their obituaries the Times and other papers now try to follow the wishes of the deceased's survivors in giving or withholding the cause of death (see card 57). Next Card 26: EARVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON: Basketball Star