Franz Hofmann (composer)
Franz Dominik Hofmann (born December 13, 1920 in Forchheim , † February 10, 1945 on board the Steuben in the Baltic Sea ) was a German composer.
Life
Hofmann first received piano lessons from his aunt before he began writing his first compositions at the age of fourteen. A year later he was accepted as a student at the municipal conservatory in Nuremberg, where he studied with Karl Rast (piano) and Seby Horvath (violin). After graduating from high school, Hofmann was drafted into the labor service in 1939. Nevertheless, between 1940 and 1944 he managed to write over 40 works for chamber music. His violin sonatas were played by his wife Sophie Hagemann , who was a trained violinist. In September 1944 he was sent to the Eastern Front as a private, where he continued to compose despite the war. On November 12, 1944, he was seriously wounded in the head and was taken to a military hospital in Königsberg, where he stayed until the beginning of February 1945 and continued to compose. In a letter dated February 6th, he reported to his wife: “The longed-for ship does not want to come, but I finished the 3rd movement of the ›› Little Sonata ‹‹.” Presumably, he was then brought to the ship Steuben, which is in the night of February 9th to 10th was torpedoed. Hofmann was probably killed in this ship disaster.
plant
Hofmann's first works are similar to those of his teacher Karl Rorich at the Nuremberg Conservatory . It was only with his 1940 sonata for violin and piano in F minor that he began to develop his own style. Most of his works are in the form of a suite or a variation . After 1960 his compositions were forgotten. They were only rediscovered in 1985 and have only been performed again since then, including a violin concerto and a horn quintet, which was recorded in 1994 by members of the Vienna Philharmonic .
Web links
- Literature by and about Franz Hofmann in the catalog of the German National Library
- Franz Hofmann in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hofmann, Franz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hofmann, Franz Dominik (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1920 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Forchheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 10, 1945 |
| Place of death | Baltic Sea |