Rafael Hofstein

Rafael Hofstein (also Raphael Hofstein , born on January 23, 1858 in Swetzian ( Wilna Gouvernement ), died in 1948 in São Paulo ) was a German musician , composer and chasan of the Jewish community in Dresden for over four decades .

Life

Rafael Hofstein received his musical training in Wilna and Königsberg , and then in Wroclaw and Katowice . He then took a job in Krotoschin and worked there for seven years. On June 1, 1891, he was elected almost unanimously as head of the synagogue choir of the Dresden Israelite religious community after a selection process lasting several days (the commission included Eugen Krantz , among others ) from 86 applicants . In addition to his duties as Chasan, Hofstein studied singing with Kammersänger Paul Jensen and composition at the Dresden Conservatory for two and a half years .

Since the beginning of his office he has been practicing new chants with the synagogue choir and composing his own works, which can be heard not only in the church services, but also in the choir's concert events. As the synagogue choir was repeatedly confronted with staff shortages, it founded a voluntary women's choir in 1906. From 1923 to 1932 he was active in the Jewish school association Machsike Thora eV. The Jewish Youth Orchestra, founded in 1924, also worked with him and performed his works. In 1926 he was elected first chairman of the Jewish cultural association in Dresden. After 43 years of service in the Dresden community, Hofstein, who had meanwhile become chief cantor, retired on March 31, 1934.

The now 81-year-old fled to Brazil with his family after the events of the November pogroms in 1938 , where he died at the age of 90. His daughter, Grete Hofstein (married Anschel), born on January 14, 1897 in Dresden, was a pianist and music teacher. Her husband, Leo Anschel, was a teacher at the Kreuzschule and the editor in charge of the "Gemeindeblatt". The Anschel family emigrated to Palestine six weeks after the November pogroms in 1938 . Grete Anschel died on November 21, 1984 in Kfar Saba ( Israel ).

Works

Hofstein's oeuvre counts 240 compositions for solo, choir and organ, in addition he wrote “art song compositions” for the Dresden community. These include compositions for three violins, violoncello and piano (e.g. “I 'dowid boruch”, first performed in 1926), songs (“Schir hamaalos”, 1927, “Adir hu”, “Echod mi jodea” and “Chad gadio ", 1928, as well as four" Old Melodies ", 1929) and also occasional compositions (" Psalm 121 (Esso enaj) ") 1936 for the 50th anniversary of Rabbi Jakob Winter's office .

As early as 1933, the music critic and reviewer Eva Büttner described his oeuvre as so valuable that it deserved to be published. His music, which could be heard in Dresden for decades, "combined the warmth of Eastern Jewish melodies with Western musical culture," according to researcher Agata Schindler.

literature

• Agata Schindler: Rafael Hofstein. In: Foundation of Sächsische Gedenkstätten to commemorate the victims of political tyranny (ed.): File number “Unwanted”. The fate of Dresden musicians and National Socialist tyranny 1933–1945. Foundation, Dresden 1999, ISBN 3-9805527-8-0 , pp. 63–65.

Web links

• Rafael Hofstein in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM)
• Agata Schindler: Hofstein, Rafael . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .