Hofhaimer, Paul (EN)

Hofhaimer, Hoffhaimer, Hofhaymer, Hofheimer, Paul *25 January 1459 Radstadt (near Salzburg), †1537 Salzburg, Austrian organist and composer. His date of birth is given according to a work by the astrologer Garcaeus, published in 1570. He may have received his musical training at the imperial court of Frederick III in Graz, where he is said to have served prior to 1478. That year he appeared in Innsbruck at the court of Archduke Sigismund Habsburg, ruler of Tyrol, and from 1480 he held the post of court organist there for life; in 1486 he travelled to Frankfurt. From 1490, he combined his service to Frederick III Habsburg with the duties of organist at the court of his son and heir to the throne, Maximilian (who reigned from 1493, as Emperor Maximilian I from 1508), who took over the Innsbruck chapel. He travelled extensively with his chapel, including to Mechelen in 1494. In 1494, 1498–99 and 1516, he also visited the court of the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise of Wettin, in Torgau. He may have settled in Passau for a few years around 1502, and in 1507 he moved to Augsburg at Maximilian’s request. In 1515, he provided the musical accompaniment on the organ at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna for the ceremonial betrothal of the Emperor’s grandchildren to the children of the King of Hungary, Vladislaus II; on that occasion, in recognition of his services, he was knighted by the King and elevated to the nobility by the Emperor. In 1519, following the Emperor’s death, he returned from Augsburg to Passau, but by 1522 he had moved to Salzburg, where he worked until his death as organist at the cathedral and at the archbishop’s court. Hofhaimer associated with eminent musicians (including H. Isaak for many years from 1484, and A. Schlick at the court in Torgau), painters (including L. Cranach in Torgau in 1516, who painted Hofhaimer’s portrait), and humanist scholars (K. Celtis, J. Vadius, O. Luscinius, and Paracelsus, who in their writings describe him as the most famous and outstanding organist of his time). It is believed that one of A. Dürer’s portraits depicts Hofhaimer and that his likeness appears in paintings depicting the imperial court. In addition to playing and composing, Hofhaimer was also involved in organ design (including the organ in the Fugger Chapel at St Anne’s Church in Augsburg, built by the Czech master Jan Beheim of Dubrava). He trained a whole generation of organists whom O. Luscinius referred to as ‘Paulomimes’. They were active in many cities across Austria and Germany, as well as in Venice. Among the most prominent were H. Buchner (Constance), H. Kotter (Freiburg), W. Grefinger (Vienna) and D. Memmo (Venice). Hofhaimer’s brother Florian, his nephews Wilhelm and Thomas, and perhaps also his father Konrad and his son from his fourth marriage, Nikolaus, were also organists in Salzburg and the surrounding area.

The fact that many of Hofheimer’s works have survived in versions for vocal ensemble, for solo voice with instrumental accompaniment, and for organ and lute, combined with the lack of autographs, makes it difficult to determine the original form of his works. This applies not only to the instrumental arrangements but even to the number of voices, as there are known instances of another composer adding an alto part to an existing three-part structure (it is known, for example, that a fourth part by S. Virdung was added to one of Hofhaimer’s works). H.J. Moser assumes that the vast majority of the songs were composed by the composer for a solo vocal part (a texted tenor, possibly accompanied by instruments) and three melodic instruments. In the development of the German song, a transition can be observed from the medieval vocal-instrumental structure to Renaissance a cappella; consequently, Hofhaimer’s works in which the text is written for all parts, and the melodies of these parts are of a vocal nature, either belong to the composer’s late period or are later revisions – in line with the prevailing trend – made by publishers, who simplified the original instrumental melodic lines, giving them a vocal character. A certain typicality can be observed in the structure of Hofheimer’s songs; most of them are in a three-part AAB form (the so-called Barform), with the identical music in the first two sections (Stollen) displaying a distinctly polyphonic texture, most often imitative, whilst in the final section (Abgesang) the texture is often closer to a chordal one. In some works, Hofhaimer employs more elaborate formal devices (e.g. variational features in Greiner zanner, a cycle of three variations in Fro bin ich dein, a double cantus firmus in the canon of In Gotts namen faren wir). The canon between tenor and bass of a rhythmically varied melody of an instrumental nature also forms the basis of the structure of the four-part Carmen in sol, whilst in the analogous piece entitled Carmen in re (these are probably early equivalents of the instrumental canzone), repeated melodic phrases appear alternately in the two lower voices, beginning on different notes of the scale; and since these voices also take turns resting, a structure of an ostinato nature is created. Hofheimer’s third Carmen is known only from the Tabulatura z klasztoru Św. Ducha, and this version, which is quite richly ornamented, is probably an organ intabulation of a piece for three instruments. The three-voice arrangements of the Dutch dance song Tandernaken, which was very popular at the time, are considered to be original organ works; the melody, set in the middle voice, is counterpointed by the lively outer voices. Of particular note here is the frequent crossing of the voices, which may indicate Hofhaimer’s use of the timbres of specific organ stops. Undoubtedly, Hofhaimer’s organ works include two three-voice arrangements of chant melodies: Salve Regina and Recordare. The first comprises, as was customary, five sections of the antiphon, with the remaining four performed by the celebrant or in polyphony. The chant melody appears in the individual sections either in the middle voice or in the highest voice as a cantus firmus, initially in equal long values, then in values reduced by half. Particularly noteworthy is rhythmic transformation into triple metre in the final section. The two-part Recordare displays an even more intricate structure. Duets contrasting in register are juxtaposed with one another and with three-voice sections, and the chant melody appears not only as a cantus firmus but also in canonical imitation; here too there is variation in the rhythmic unit of this melody, which is maintained in triple metre in the conclusion. In the three-voice intabulation of H. Isaac’s song, Hofhaimer richly embellishes all the voices, particularly the upper ones. The works published in Harmoniae poeticae, to which Hofhaimer devoted the final years of his life, comprise 35 settings of Latin poetry, mainly by Horace (odes, epodes and fragments of a letter), as well as Virgil, Martial, Catullus and the Christian poets Prudentius and Ph. Gundelius. In his chordal structures, Hofhaimer has carefully rendered the rhythm of the various metrical forms of the verse.

Literature: R. von Liliencron Die Horazischen Metren in deutschen Kompositionen des 16. Jahrhunderts, “Vierteljahrsschrift für Musikwissenschaft” III, 1887 (contains 19 odes by Hofhaimer); H.J. Moser P. Hofhaimer, ein Lied- und Orgelmeister des deutschen Humanismus, Stuttgart 1929, reprinted 2nd edition 1966 (contains all of Hofheimer’s known and presumed works, also published separately under the title 91 Tonsätze des Kreises von P. Hofhaimer); H.J. Moser Hofhaimeriana, “Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft” XV, 1932/33; W.R. Nef Der Sankt Galier Organist F. Sicher und seine Orgeltabulatur, “Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Musikwissemschaft” VII, 1938; W. Senn Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1954; L. Hoffmann-Erbrecht P. Hofhaimer in Salzburg, Festschrift for H. Besseler, Leipzig 1961; W. Apel Geschichte der Orgel- und Klaviermusik bis 1700, Kassel 1967, English translation London 1972.