Bruno Hoffmann (15 September 191311 April 1991) was a German glass harpist. Hoffmann is widely acknowledged as the virtuoso who reanimated contemporary interest in the glass harp and

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

. Bruno Hoffmann was born in Stuttgart,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the son of a church music director. He was trained in piano and organ playing, but on encountering the "musical glasses" at age 16, his lifelong devotion to resurrecting this unearthly beauty was begun. He discovered and mastered the old repertoire for glass harp by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Fr ...

, Karl Leopold Röllig, Johann Abraham Peter Schulz,

Johann Gottlieb Naumann Johann Gottlieb Naumann (17 April 1741 – 23 October 1801) was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister. Life Johann Gottlieb Naumann was born in Blasewitz and received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, where he ...

and others, and also inspired several modern composers to write new works for him. He was the author of the ''Glasharmonika'' article in the German music encyclopedia '' Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''. He designed and built his own instrument beginning in 1929 (aged 16), consisting of a set of wine glasses mounted in a wooden box, whose rims were rubbed to produce the tone. He appeared all over Germany and the British Isles, performing solo and with various chamber and orchestral ensembles, and during his lifetime was featured on innumerable radio and television broadcasts and several recordings (including Federico Fellini's ''

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

)''. Hoffmann also appeared in several films, including a

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

documentary. He is also featured in the original score by

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

on the soundtrack of '' The Razor's Edge''. He died in Stuttgart in 1991, aged 77.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Bruno 1913 births 1991 deaths Glass harp players Musicians from Stuttgart 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century German musicians

See also

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