Richard Hoffmann (20 April 1925 – 24 June 2021)"Richard Hoffmann, Composer and Protégé of Arnold Schoenberg, Dies at 96" by Erich Burnett, Oberlin College & Conservatory, July 15, 2021 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,Reinhard Kapp, "Hoffmann, Richard", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., vol. 11, 596–597 the son of Richard and Emanuela Hoffmann. In 1935, the family emigrated to New Zealand,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 where Hoffmann subsequently received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of New Zealand in 1945.See letter from Arnold Schoenberg, 20 July 1949, in Feisst, Sabine, Schoenberg's Correspondence with American Composers, Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2018, p. 768

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.Riggs, Robert, Leon Kirchner: Composer, Performer, and Teacher, University of Rochester Press: 2010, p. 94Platt, Russell, "Wrestling with the Twelve-Tone Technique of Schoenberg", The New Yorker, May 4, 2017Sleeve note to LP CRI 240

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:

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, Berkeley from 1965 to 1966, at Victoria University in 1968, at Harvard University in 1970, at the University of Iowa in 1976 and at Vienna University in 1984. His students included Jonathan Dawe, Pierre Jalbert, Stan Link, David Serkin Ludwig, Christopher Rouse, Daniel Schechter, and Robert Spano just to name a few.

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.

Personal life

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

Compositions

Orchestral Prelude and Double Fugue, strings, 1944 Violin Concerto, 1948 Orchestral Piece, 1952 Piano Concerto, 1953–54 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Cello Concerto, 1956–59 – Mobart Music Publications MOB 8540/Schott Orchestral Piece [No. 2], 1961, publ. Universal Edition, London (1963), UE13635LW Music for Strings, for solo violin and string orchestra, 1970–71 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Souffleur, for symphony orchestra without conductor, 1975–76 Vocal 3 Songs (R. M. Rilke), 1948 3 Songs (Rilke, ), soprano, piano, 1950 2 Songs (M. Maeterlink, E. St Vincent Millay), soprano, piano, 1953–54 Mutterauge (trad.), chorus, 1956 Memento mori (grave stone inscriptions), men's 48 voices, tape, 1966–69 Les adieux (R. Hoffmann), chorus, orchestra, 1980–83 2 Poems (A. Giraud), 1 voice, flute + piccolo, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, 1986 Lacrymosa '91 (H. Heine), chorus, orchestra, 1990 2 Songs (F. Rückert, Heine), soprano, string trio, percussion, 1990 [arr. chamber orchestra, 1991] Die Heimkehr (G. Trakl), 1 voice, double chorus, orchestra, 1997 Chamber and solo String Quartet No. 1, 1947 Trio, violin, bass clarinet, piano, 1948 Duo, viola and cello, 1949 – Mobart Music Publications MOB 8550/Schott Duo, violin and piano, 1949, rev. 1965 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Piano Quartet, 1950 String Quartet No. 2, 1950 Tripartita, solo violin, 1950 String Trio, 1961–63 Decadanse, for clarinet, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, violin, double bass, and percussion, 1972 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott String Quartet No. 3 'on revient toujours', 1972–74 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Changes, for two sets of chimes, four players, 1974 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Notturno [String Quartet No. 5], double string quartet, 1995 String Quartet No. 6 'Anbruch–Einbruch–Abbruch', 1999 Keyboard Piano Sonata, 1945–46 3 Small Pieces, piano, 1947 Fantasy and Fugue in Memoriam Arnold Schoenberg, organ, 1951 – Mobart Music Publications/Schott Variations No. 1, piano, 1951 Sonatina, piano, 1952 Passacaglia, organ, 1953 - Mobart Music Publications/Schott Variations No. 2, piano, 1959 – Mobart Music Publications MOB 8585/Schott MONO/POLY, piano, 1994 (first performance Pasadena, 13 September 1994, by Leonard Stein Electroacoustic In memoriam patris, tape, 1976 String Quartet No. 4 '(scordatura – trompe l'oreille)', string quartet, computer, 1977–78

Writings Hoffmann, Richard, "Webern: Six Pieces, op. 6, 1909", Perspectives of New Music 6 (1967–68) Schoenberg, Arnold, Von heute auf morgen, Op. 32, edited by Richard Hoffmann, with Werner Bittinger. Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne; Wien: Universal Edition, 1970.

References

Further reading Feisst, Sabine, Schoenberg's New World: The American Years, Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2011, p. 332 n.10 Markus Grassl and Reinhard Kapp, Die Lehre von der musikalischen Aufführung in der Wiener Schule (Wiener Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte, vol. 3), Böhlau Wien, 2002, 685–686 Alec Leshy, "OCME honors Richard Hoffman", The Oberlin Review, vol. 128, no. 12, December 10, 1999 Waleson, Heidi, "Making it New", Oberlin Conservatory Magazine, 2009–10 Woodard, Josef, "Music Review: Stein in Triumphant Reading of Schoenberg in Pasadena", Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1994 (review of premiere of MONO/POLY)