Hofmann, Leopold (EN)

Hofmann, Hoffmann, Leopold, *14 August 1738 Vienna, †17 March 1793 Vienna, Austrian composer and organist. At the age of seven, he became a singer in the chapel of Empress Elizabeth Christine. Later, he studied composition and harpsichord with G.Ch. Wagenseil and violin, possibly with G. Trani. From 1758, he was a musician (violinist?) in the band at St. Michael’s Church, and from 1766, he was the bandmaster at St. Peter’s Church, where he had probably been directing the choir since 1764. In 1769, he was appointed harpsichordist (Hofklaviermeister) at the Viennese court, which involved teaching the children of the imperial family. In 1772, he briefly served as second organist at the imperial court; in the same year, he became bandmaster at St. Stephen’s Cathedral (in 1791, W.A. Mozart was his assistant there). Formally, he remained in this position until his death, but in 1783, due to poor health and Joseph II’s reforms concerning church music, among other things, he largely withdrew from musical life, spending his last years at his estate in Oberdöbling (now a district of Vienna).

Hofmann occupied an important position in the musical life of 18th-century Vienna; he was highly regarded both by the imperial court and by the musical community, where his achievements were compared to those of K. Dittersdorf, Ch.W. Gluck, and J. Haydn. His works (especially masses, concertos, symphonies, and chamber music) were also very popular outside Vienna, as evidenced by numerous copies preserved in many Central European archives. Hofmann was also one of the first songwriters in Austria.

Literature: I. Pollak-Schlaffenberg Die Wiener Liedmusik von 1778–1789, “Studien zur Musikwissenschaft” V, 1918; V. Kreiner Leopold Hofmann als Sinfoniker, thesis, university in Vienna 1958 (includes a thematic catalog); H. Prohászka Leopold Hofmann und seine Messen, “Studien zur Musikwissenschaft” XXVI, 1964 (includes a thematic catalog); A. P. Brown Joseph Haydn and Leopold Hofmann’s Street Songs, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” 33 (1980); G. C. Kimball The Symphonies of Leopold Hofmann (1738–1793), thesis, Columbia University 1985; A. D. J. Badley The Concertos of Leopold Hofmann (1738–1793), thesis, University of Auckland 1986; B. MacIntyre The Viennese Concerted Mass of the Early Classic Period, Ann Arbor 1986; D. Heartz Haydn, Mozart and the Viennese School 1740–1780, New York, London 1995; A. Badley How foreign is foreign? On the origins of Leopold Hofmann’s smaller liturgical works, “Fontes artis musicae” 61/1 (2014).