Richard Hoffmann (20 April 1925 – 24 June 2021)[1] was an American composer, musicologist and educator. He served many years as a professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Early life

Hoffmann was born in Vienna, Austria,[2] the son of Richard and Emanuela Hoffmann. In 1935, the family emigrated to New Zealand,[3] where Hoffmann subsequently received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of New Zealand in 1945.[4][3]

Hoffmann went on to the USA in 1947, primarily to study composition with his cousin, Arnold Schoenberg (1948–1951). At the same time he also became Schoenberg's secretary and amanuensis.[3][5][6][7]

Musical style

About the String Trio, which was begun in 1961 (Altmünster, Austria) and, after approximately a year's interruption, completed in 1963 (Los Angeles, California) the composer wrote:

The piece is in a single movement (approximately 15 minutes). The kaleidoscopic treatment of the musical substance in detail (fragmentation, juxtaposition, rotation); the confluence of a number of coequal contrasting sections (elision, dovetailing); the interaction of disparate elements; rhythmic dissonance; conflicting dynamics (even with sustained sonorities); the notation of each instrument on three staves (upper: sul ponticello or sul tasto, the middle: arco, the lower: pizzicato or col legno), and localized accelerandi and ritardandi – all are designed to create the maximum possible illusion of multidimensional movement and to emulate in sound the inherently unstable characteristics of a mobile. This is done without recourse to the arbitrariness and forced spontaneity of improvisation, but rather, within the paradoxical framework of rigid control and matrix-like construction.[7]

Teaching career

Hoffmann began his career as a professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1954, where he worked until 2004. He was a visiting professor at the University of California in Berkeley from 1965 to 1966,[3] at Victoria University in 1968, at Harvard University in 1970, at the University of Iowa in 1976 and at Vienna University in 1984.[1] His students included Jonathan Dawe, Pierre Jalbert, Stan Link, David Serkin Ludwig, Christopher Rouse, and Robert Spano just to name a few. [1]

Achievements

Hoffmann received awards from the Fromm Music Foundation Commission in 1960 (Orchestral Piece No. 2, 1961, Universal Edition, London (1963), UE13635LW) and National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1966. Also he was given a grant from National Education Association in 1976, 1978–1979 and Fulbright Foundation in 1984–1985.[1]

Personal life

On December 21, 1957, Hoffmann married Joan Alfhild Flint. They have 3 children. Hoffman died in Oberlin, Ohio, on June 24, 2021, aged 96.[1]

Compositions

Writings

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Richard Hoffmann, Composer and Protégé of Arnold Schoenberg, Dies at 96" by Erich Burnett, Oberlin College & Conservatory, July 15, 2021
  2. ^ Reinhard Kapp, "Hoffmann, Richard", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., vol. 11, 596–597
  3. ^ a b c d Röder, Werner and Strauss, Herbert A., International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945. Volume II: The Arts, Sciences and Literature, Part 1: A–K, p. 528
  4. ^ See letter from Arnold Schoenberg, 20 July 1949, in Feisst, Sabine, Schoenberg's Correspondence with American Composers, Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2018, p. 768
  5. ^ Riggs, Robert, Leon Kirchner: Composer, Performer, and Teacher, University of Rochester Press: 2010, p. 94
  6. ^ Platt, Russell, "Wrestling with the Twelve-Tone Technique of Schoenberg", The New Yorker, May 4, 2017
  7. ^ a b Sleeve note to LP CRI 240[full citation needed]

Further reading

Categories