The Hoffnung Music Festivals were a series of humorous classical music festivals created by cartoonist and amateur tuba player Gerard Hoffnung and held in the Royal Festival Hall in London. The concerts consisted of humorous works specially commissioned from well-known composers of the day.
The 1956 concert was recorded, and is available in the American market on Angel Records 35500. Music from The Hoffnung Music Festival Concert, Royal Festival Hall, London. An Extravagant Evening of Symphonic Caricature devised by Gerald Hoffnung, Producer: Sam Wanamaker, Organizer: John Amis. It was recorded at the concert, 13 November 1956, by EMI and released in the U.S. by Angel Records. The orchestra was the Morley College Orchestra (billed as the Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra)
The concert opens with Ernst Bean, the General Manager of the Festival Hall, announcing that “owing to circumstances over which the London County Council and the management of the hall have no control, tonight’s concert will take place exactly as advertised.”
Programme:
The work begins with a long drumroll, tricking the audience into rising for the national anthem.
Following Malcolm Arnold's entrance, violinist Yfrah Neaman ran through the stage playing The Irish Washerwoman
In addition to the large orchestra, the overture consists of a quartet of 3 vacuum cleaners and an electric floor polisher. The work is dedicated to President Hoover
This version of an already humorous work consists of more surprises, such as one of the Festival Hall organ pipes falling over when the orchestra hits the fortissimo "surprise" chord, the violins playing in the wrong key twice, a new "waltz" variation with a ballerina (Moyra Fraser) dancing through the isles and ending with members of the BBC Music Division playing the theme on stone hot water bottles.
The concerto starts with the orchestra playing the opening bars of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, only for the pianist to enter with the opening of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor. The rest of the concerto combines the two concertos into one, mixing with themes such as Pop Goes the Weasel and Roll Out the Barrell, ending with conductor and soloist fighting for the last chord.
A short overture consisting of forty-eight quotations from other works. According to the program, "Try to spot as many as you can; the usual prizes will not be offered."
This work, while in the form of a fugue, consists of the choir declaiming various places without variance in pitch.
A transcription of the last movement of Leopold Mozart's Sinfonia Pastorella for Alphorn and Strings.
At one point in the score, the composer indicates "tempo di rock 'n' roll"
The work is scored for an unusual combination of two piccolos, heckelphone, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabassoons, serpent, contrabass serpent, hurdy gurdy, harmonium, and subcontrabass tuba.
Although not a humorous work, this performance featured several distinguished guests playing in the orchestra, including Malcolm Arnold on the trumpet, Norman Del Mar on the French horn, Yvonne Arnaud on the piano, Dennis Brain on the organ, Hugo D'Alton on the mandolin, and Gerard Hoffnung on the tuba. [1]
The liner notes were written by John Amis, one of the organizers of the event. He wrote that it was called the Crazy Concert by the London newspapers, and that all 3000-odd seats were sold within two hours of the opening of the box office, breaking all records for Royal Festival Hall at that time and selling faster than the previous Liberace concert.
The 1958 production was the Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival, Royal Festival Hall, 21 & 22 November. The EMI recording for the American market was Angel 35800, released in both mono and stereo.
Programme:
As its name suggests, this piece is played in the foyer while the audience is walking to the concert hall. The recording is edited in such a way that it sounds as though one were walking past the musicians into the hall
A series of five musical commercials for Bournvita in the style of Bach, Mozart, Verdi, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky.
This work mostly relies on its visual humor, which is why it is abridged on the recording. Throughout the concert, Hoffnung demonstrates some unorthodox conducting skills, such as conducting to total silence, sobbing on stage, and engaging in a sword fight with Joseph Cooper (at the piano). The work also includes a "cadenza", which just consists of the conductor waving his arms around carelessly while the orchestra remains silent. According to the program "Why not televise entire symphony concerts but advise those viewers who are not deaf to switch off the sound?"
A mashup of various themes by Tchaikovsky arranged for a Renaissance Ensemble. The cannons that would be presented in the 1812 Overture are replaced with popguns.
In this work, the composer seeks to "re-create the fine spirit of human endeavour which becomes so apparent that the nations meet together." At one point, a huge military band wanders through the stage blasting several patriotic songs
The scoring of this work includes a large foghorn played by Annetta Hoffnung (Gerard Hoffnung's wife)
This work involves the strings playing "in every way except in the normal fashion." and the woodwinds and brass playing their mouthpieces without their instrument attached.
A short parody on 12-tone serial music and Klangfarbenmelodie. The work is preceded by an overly long analysis by "Dr. Klaus Domgraf-Fassbaender" (Gerard Hoffnung), and "Prof. Von der Vogelweide" (John Amis).
The concert closes with "an operatic divertissement, a miracle of controlled stage-craft - five operas for the price of one!" The plot of the opera is that - "the setting is outside the cigarette factory in old Nuremburg. Beckmesser woos Azucena, the sex-kitten of the tobacco girls. Othello rides in with his swan which is chased away by William Tell, Max and other huntsmen. Othello, retiring defeated from the hunt, meets Salome who on the removal of all her veils, proves to be Fidelio and sings herself into a stupor. Brünnhilde, in search of a husband, is disappointed – Fidelio is a woman in disguise – and even the rival serenaders of whom she has hopes turn out to be wooing Mélisande. However she gets her man – Radames – in the end. Fidelio awakens and departs on Brünnhilde’s tricycle, Grane, leaving the frustrated Nightwatchman to steal well deserved winks on the vacated bed … etc., etc."
Roles:
| Roles | Voice Types | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Azucena, Mélisande | mezzo-soprano | Edith Coates |
| Beckmesser | baritone | Otakar Kraus |
| Otello | tenor | Edgar Evans |
| The Nightwatchman | bass-baritone | Ian Wallace |
| Salome (revealed as Fidelio) | soprano | Sheila Rex |
| Brünnhilde | soprano | Gloria Lane |
| Don Giovanni | baritone | Peter Glossop |
| Manrico | tenor | John Dobson |
| Nadir | tenor | Duncan Robertson |
| Escamillo | bass | Owen Brannigan |
The 1960 production was the Hoffnung Memorial Concert and was a memorial tribute to Gerard Hoffnung, who had died a year earlier. It was again held in the Royal Festival Hall and performed by the Morley College Orchestra. Works performed included A Hoffnung Fanfare and Carnival of the Animals by Malcolm Arnold.
The 1961 production was the Hoffnung Astronautical Music Festival, and was once again held in the Royal Festival Hall, 28 November. It was also recorded by EMI in mono and stereo and released in the U.S. on Angel Records 35828. The recording was reissued on CD by Hallmark on 20 February 2012.
Programme:
Modeled after Beethoven's Leonora Overture No. 3, this work present some bizarre twists, including the offstage trumpeters entering at the wrong times, The Happy Wanderers' Street Band interrupting the music, and the orchestra suddenly plunging into an out of place waltz rhythm. The actual composer was not named in the program, but the work of Malcolm Arnold was unmistakable.
Just like Punkt Contrapunkt, this duet is a parody on 12-tone serial music.
The key of this work is "mostly in D Major." The work crescendos to a dramatic countdown (seeing as space craft was all the rage at the time of the concert), mixed with themes such as Flight of the Bumblebee and Yankee Doodle.
This work was not present on the audio recording due to its extreme visual humor. The work centers around a diner who has to eat his way through an entire meal for the duration of the piece.
Horrortorio by Joseph Horovitz (libretto by Alistair Sampson)
Roles:
| Roles | Voice Types | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Dracula's Daughter | soprano | April Cantelo |
| Dowager Baroness Frankenstein | contralto | Pamela Bowden |
| Narrator (Edgar Allan Poe), Frankenstein's Son | tenor | Stephen Manton |
| Count Dracula | bass | John Frost |
This extravagant oratorio, taken from "a scenario by Maurice Richardson" tells the story of the marriage of Dracula's Daughter and Frankenstein's Son. The music parodies the classical oratorio while taking on "new and horrible dimensions".
The opposite of "static" where the players remain on stage throughout the work, this short piece has all the members of the orchestra moving about on stage, "faithfully following their respective conductors." [1]
On 17 February 1969, a Hoffnung concert was staged in the Royal Festival Hall in aid of the Notting Hill Housing Trust. It included some of the works from the 1958 festival, and a new work to celebrate Hoffnung. The conductor for most of the works was Norman Del Mar with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and several singers from 1958 returned. Spelling and punctuation are as in the 1969 programme notes:[3]
Programme:
Roles:
| Roles | Performers |
|---|---|
| Beckmesser | Derek Hammond Stroud |
| Azucena (Carmen) | Edith Coates |
| Otello | Edgar Evans |
| Odette-Odile | Deanne Bergsma |
| The Nightwatchman | Ian Wallace |
| Salome/Fidelio | Sheila Rex |
| Wotan, Escamillo | Gerwyn Morgan |
| Brünnhilde | Judith Pierce |
| Nadir | Duncan Robertson |
| Manrico | David Kane |
| Don Giovanni | Richard van Allan |
| Mélisande | April Cantelo |
| Radames | Neville Griffiths |
According to the programme, "A two-minute period (at 4.30 am) has been allocated by the Concert Organisers for Community Coughing. If you have a promising cough, please try to save it until then."
On December 14th, 1976, a Hoffnung concert was staged in the Royal Albert Hall, entitled "Hear Hear, Hoffnung", featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, as well as several distinguished conductors and performers
Programme:
The work is scored for 36 trumpets.
| Roles | Performers |
|---|---|
| Beckmesser | Thomas Lawlor |
| Azucena (Carmen), Mélisande | Ann Howard |
| Otello, Manrico | Kenneth Woollam |
| The Nightwatchman | Ian Wallace |
| Salome/Fidelio | Ava June |
| Wotan, Escamillo | Harold Blackburn |
| Brünnhilde | Ann Hood |
| Nadir | Bernard Dickerson |
| Don Giovanni | Peter Knapp |
| Swan Queen | Laura Conner |
On February 12th & 13th, 1988, two reprise concerts were performed and recorded at the Royal Festival Hall and released by Decca. Many distinguished guests appeared, including Donald Swann, Annetta Hoffnung (playing the role of "orchestral maid"), and Gerard's daughter Emily. The program, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Michael Massey and Tom Bergman, consisted of highlights from previous Hoffnung Festivals as well as a few new pieces to keep the audience on their toes.
Programme:
The music consists of a mashup of several opera melodies, while the libretto is a mashup of various Italian musical terms
Before the work is played, an audience member (Raimund Herincx) coughs rather loudly. He is checked on by a nurse (Jill Gomez), after which they sing a hilarious operatic duet.
The piece starts with the concerts manager announcing that due to a booking error, two violins have been scheduled for the same concert. In order to "avoid legal proceedings", the managers decides that both of them should play the concerto. At the end, the female violinist bows the last harmonic (while the male violinist fingers it), during which they fall into a kiss.
So called because parts of the music sound suspiciously similar to Rossini's Overture to the Thieving Magpie.
Before the work is played, Annetta wipes down the keys of the piano while the French horns blare out Wagner's Overture to Tannhauser.
The performances of Lochinvar and the Heaving Bagpipe are preceded by a bagpipe solo performed by Lachlan A. Stewart