Mirzl Hofer

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Mirzl Hofer (around 1910)
With guitar (around 1910)

Mirzl Hofer (born May 26, 1877 in Graz as Maria Vidowitsch , after marriage Maria Becker ; † December 7, 1955 there ) was an Austrian singer and yodeler . She was famous beyond the country's borders and is considered to be one of the country's first female " pop stars ". In 1908 she was the leading actress in a sound image that can be considered the forerunner of modern music videos .

life and career

Little is known today about Mirzl Hofer's life and career. Her parents were the “prison guard” Blasius Vidowitsch and Maria, née Junge, who died in Graz at the age of 82 in early 1926. Contemporary postcards show the native of Graz in traditional costume in the practice of her profession and dub her as the “award-winning yodeler from Graz”, “first female soloist in Styria”, “the best natural yodeler of the present” or “vocal phenomenon from the alp”. Also in the newspapers of the time she is sometimes referred to as the "best yodeler of the modern age". She married on April 8, 1907 in Graz-Karlau the from Dortmund originating merchant Karl Wilhelm Becker, on 8 April 1932, the couple celebrated ibid his silver wedding . As 25 years earlier, the bride was assisted by Josef Pirsch, the former mayor of the then still independent community of Waltendorf .

In her hometown, Hofer performed mainly in the Orpheum . From the turn of the century she toured all of Austria from Vienna and also made guest appearances in vaudeville shows that were further away , around 1903 in Teplitz-Schönau or in 1910 in Rotterdam . Mirzl Hofer mainly interpreted folk and yodelling songs and recorded numerous recordings for various record companies . Her earliest recordings were pressed onto Edison rollers (around 1903) and Pathé rollers (around 1906), later she mainly produced shellac records . Thanks to these young recording techniques, her work found international dissemination. On some early records, Hofer is referred to as a “Tyrolean yodeler”, which may serve as an indication of one of her places of activity.

A handwritten letter dated September 30, 1901 recalls an appearance in Bremen :

“ In spring and summer / singan d'Vögerln in the forest,
And I, sing it all over, / Because I like it so much. (...)
As a friendly reminder to my dear colleague of the joint commitment in Bremen "

- Mirzl Hofer from Graz Styria

reception

Although Mirzl Hofer was considered one of Austria's most popular music exports during her career, her music was a little forgotten in the course of the 20th century. More than 60 years after the artist's death, the Filmarchiv Austria discovered a sound image from 1908 in its collection , which shows the singer interpreting the Steinklopfer March . In the approximately three-minute film, Mirzl Hofer stands singing in front of a backdrop -like mountain landscape and is surrounded by two dance couples - a choreography that, according to ORF , should resemble modern music videos. The find documents the earliest known performance by an Austrian artist on film and was accordingly rated a sensation. The film archive referred to the Graz native as "Austria's first female pop star". In 2019, the original 35mm film was restored and digitized and published for the first time on YouTube . The film source had to be combined with a privately owned record, the greatest difficulty being in synchronizing the frame rate with the soundtrack. In the same year, the Museum of History at the Universalmuseum Joanneum dedicated a space to Mirzl Hofer in the exhibition “POP 1900–2000. Popular music in Styria ”.

Discography

Kaerntner "Madln-March" (1911)
The Leni of Spleni (1914)

Singles (selection)

  • 1905: A Bleaml and a heart / Mei Glück is a Hütterl
  • 1905: The song from Lieserl / Edelweiss
  • 1905: The Burglei you yodelers / The Gamslan
  • 1905: The Holzhackerbuben-March
  • 1905: I'm in and out
  • 1905: Waldviertel / I'm going out and in
  • 1905: Did he say / The women
  • 1905: Various national yodellers / The Linzerin
  • 1907: D'Gamsln / Die Almerin vom Sonnwendstein
  • 1907: Edelweiss / The poor dirndl
  • 1908: The Sternloan / The poor Diandl
  • 1908: The Gamslan black and gray / The Bua in love
  • 1908: Schnaderhüpferln
  • 1908: Steinklopfer March
  • 1909: Tiroler Holzhacker-Buam / Steinklopfer-March
  • 1909: I have to part from my mountains
  • 1910: Bua in love / Poor Diand'l
  • 1910: Hahnbalzlied (When the capercaillie mates) (with Max Jauner)
  • 1911: Did he say / Mei Bua
  • 1911: My Leibjodler / Pfiat di Gott, he said
  • 1911: Wildschützen March / Kaerntner "Madln-March"
  • 1912: The funny dairymaid / The Gamsloan black and brown
  • 1914: Leni von Spleni / That's what he said
  • 1921: My Leibjodler / It will be a wine

Web links

Commons : Mirzl Hofer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b baptismal register Graz-Karlau, Volume 5, p. 296
  2. ↑ a b Mirzl Hofer. Tirol shellac, accessed October 19, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Graz-Karlau marriage book, Volume 5, p. 344
  4. ↑ deaths. In:  Grazer Tagblatt / Grazer Tagblatt. Organ of the German People's Party for the Alpine countries / Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Morgenblatt. Morning edition of the Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Abendblatt. Evening edition of the Neue Grazer Tagblatt / (Süddeutsches) Tagblatt with the illustrated monthly “Bergland” , January 6, 1926, p. 7 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / gtb
  5. ^ The 62 regimental band at the Gschwandner in Hernals. In:  Ostdeutsche Rundschau. Viennese weekly for politics, economics, art and literature / Ostdeutsche Rundschau. Deutsches Tagblatt , November 1, 1903, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / or
  6. ↑ a b c 1900-1918. Universalmuseum Joanneum , March 2019, accessed on October 19, 2019 .
  7. ^ The New Year's Eve at Stalehner's. In:  Illustrirtes Wiener Extrablatt , December 31, 1903, p. 7 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / iwe
  8. ↑ Weddings. In:  Grazer Tagblatt / Grazer Tagblatt. Organ of the German People's Party for the Alpine countries / Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Morgenblatt. Morning edition of the Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Abendblatt. Evening edition of the Neue Grazer Tagblatt / (Süddeutsches) Tagblatt with the illustrated monthly “Bergland” , April 9, 1907, p. 18 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / gtb
  9. ↑ Silver wedding. In:  Grazer Tagblatt / Grazer Tagblatt. Organ of the German People's Party for the Alpine countries / Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Morgenblatt. Morning edition of the Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Abendblatt. Evening edition of the Neue Grazer Tagblatt / (Süddeutsches) Tagblatt with the illustrated monthly “Bergland” , April 5, 1932, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / gtb
  10. ↑ a b c Silver Wedding. In:  Grazer Tagblatt / Grazer Tagblatt. Organ of the German People's Party for the Alpine countries / Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Morgenblatt. Morning edition of the Neues Grazer Tagblatt / Neues Grazer Abendblatt. Evening edition of the Neue Grazer Tagblatt / (Süddeutsches) Tagblatt with the illustrated monthly “Bergland” , April 15, 1932, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / gtb
  11. ↑ Varieté "Schwan". In:  Teplitz-Schönauer Anzeiger , May 18, 1903, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / tsa
  12. ↑ a b c Oldest music video by an Austrian singer. (No longer available online.) Filmarchiv Austria , March 2019, archived from the original on October 19, 2019 ; accessed on November 1, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Mirzl Hofer: Styrian pop video from 1908. ORF , March 29, 2019, accessed on October 19, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Discography (label and music examples). Tirol shellac, accessed October 19, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Hofer, Mirzl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vidowitsch, Maria (maiden name); Becker, Maria (marriage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian singer and yodeler
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 1955
Place of death Graz