Norbert Hofer (clergyman)

Gravestone on the cemetery wall of the local cemetery

Father Norbert Josef Hofer O.Cist. (* July 22, 1874 in Gumpoldskirchen ; † February 21, 1952 in Heiligenkreuz ) was a monk priest, regenschori , organist and professor in Heiligenkreuz.

resume

Josef Hofer was born the son of a conductor and choir director. His father had already wanted to join the Heiligenkreuzer Boys' Choir , but was no longer accepted at the age of twelve. Because of this, he tried to allow his son to join. Josef Hofer came to the choir room of the Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1885 ; it was the beginning of a lifelong bond. On October 4, 1894, he received the dress and the religious name Gutolf . He soon exchanged this for Norbert . On July 23, 1899 he was ordained a priest together with Ignaz Seipel . In 1908 he was appointed novice master.

He dedicated his dissertation, Die Zwei Reutter as Church Composers (Vienna 1915), to the Reutter family, from which the Heiligenkreuz abbot Marian Reutter emerged.

Organist and Regens Chori

When Pope Pius X decreed the restoration of Gregorian chant on November 22, 1903 , Abbot Gregor Pöck decided that the monks of Heiligenkreuz should henceforth sing Vespers choralites . However, Gregorian notation was still missing: Hofer was given the task of producing it. He turned to Father Coelestin Vivell in Seckau Abbey and began studying composition in Vienna in 1912 with Anton Klatowsky and at the scientific institute with Guido Adler .

Abbey librarian and university professor

In 1915 Hofer obtained his doctorate in Vienna. phil. From 1915 to 1922 he worked as a monastery librarian. For the first twenty years he taught only chant in Heiligenkreuz , and in 1922 he was also given biblical studies. From 1922 to 1929 he served as cleric prefect. From 1933 to 1945 he was pastor in the Pfaffstätten , returned to Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1946 and spent his retirement there as a subprior.

Works

• 9 fairs
• 4 Requiem settings
• numerous smaller church works
• cheerful male quartets and songs

literature

• Alkuin Volker Schachenmayr : Formative professors in the development of theological teaching in the Cistercian monastery Heiligenkreuz 1802–2002. Langwaden 2004, ISBN 3-937634-08-8 , p. 169.
• Uwe Harten: Hofer, P. Norbert OCist (Josef). In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7001-3044-9 .