Karel Hoffmann (musician)

The members of the Bohemian String Quartet (from left): Karel Hoffmann , Hanuš Wihan , Oskar Nedbal and Josef Suk . (1895)

Karel Hoffmann (born December 12, 1872 in Prague , † March 30, 1936 there ) was a Czech violinist and music teacher.

The youngest son of a weaver grew up in the Smíchov district of Prague, where he attended elementary school and contributed to the family's earnings as a violinist in a band. In 1885 he was admitted to the Prague Conservatory , where he became a violin student of Antonín Bennewitz and entered the chamber music class of Hanuš Wihan .

In 1890 he became concertmaster of the orchestra of the Conservatory and in 1891 he performed with his classmates Josef Suk (violin), Oskar Nedbal (viola) and Otto Berger (cello) as a string quartet at a concert in the Rudolfinum , which was officially known as the Bohemian Quartet (from 1918 Czech Quartet ) and became one of the most important Czech chamber music ensembles of its time.

Since 1898 Hoffmann also pursued a career as a violin soloist. He celebrated triumphs in Prague, Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht with Antonín Dvořák's Violin Concerto in A minor and performed violin concertos and sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach , Ludwig van Beethoven , Johannes Brahms , César Franck , Claude Debussy , Josef Suk and others.

From 1922 Hoffmann was professor for violin at the Prague Conservatory, which he also headed from 1926-27 as rector. In 1934 he founded the Ceské trio with Ladislav Zelenka and Jan Heřman , which only existed for two years due to his early death.

literature

• Hoffmann Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1959, p. 378.