Heinz Hofmann (1917 – after 1967) was a German conductor. After artistic engagements with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle and the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, he was most recently permanent conductor of the

Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra The , also known as Tokyō (都響), is one of the representative symphony orchestras of Japan. The Orchestra was founded in 1965 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, to commemorate the Tokyo Olympics (1964 Summer Olympics). Currently Kazushi O ...

Life

Hofmann was born in 1917 as the son of a chamber musician in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and grew up in Halle and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

.Robert Heinze: ''Vom Theaterorchester zum internationalen Klangkörper. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra'' (''Kleine Schriftenreihe des Stadtarchivs Konstanz'', vol. 6). UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 2007, ,
Books, BookID=hP42AQAAIAAJ, page=57, emphasis="Hofmann was born in Breslau in 1917"
. After the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, he attended the orchestral school of the

Staatskapelle Dresden The Staatskapelle Dresden (known formally as the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden) is a German orchestra based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in 1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the world's oldest and most highly re ...

. There he was a pupil of Hermann Ludwig Kutzschbach.Susanne Baselt: ''Chronik des Philharmonischen Staatsorchesters Halle''. Part I: ''1946 to 1964''. Ed. by the Directorate of the Halle Philharmonic State Orchestra, Halle (Saale) 1999, . In 1939, he was drafted into the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. He became a US prisoner of war, which he remained until 1946. After the Second World War he worked at the and in

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded und ...

. Under

Walter Schartner Walter Schartner (3 December 1894 – 24 May 1970) was a German conductor, composer and Hochschullehrer. In 1946, he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor in Halle and as such he directed the . In 1949/50, he was chief conductor of the Philharmonis ...

in 1949/50, he was initially deputy principal conductorGisela Heine: ''Tradition und Moderne. 50 Jahre Staatsorchester Halle''. In ''

das Orchester ''Das Orchester'' is a German-language magazine for musicians and management which has been published eleven times a year since 1953 by Schott Music and is distributed in over 45 countries worldwide. The editor-in-chief is based in Berlin while ...

'', 1/1997, . and after his departure in 1950, he became provisional principal conductor of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Halle. Schartner's official successor became Werner Gößling. In 1953, Hofmann moved to the BRD "because of political danger", as he stated. After being selected from a group of guest conductors, he succeeded

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

Richard Treiber at the Constance Municipal Orchestra (from 1962 Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz) in 1959 (from 1962, the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance), whose position had already been advertised since 1956. According to Robert Heinze, "a personal feud" between a concert pianist who had probably been passed over and the music director led to a scandal.Robert Heinze: ''Vom Theaterorchester zum internationalen Klangkörper. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra'' (''Kleine Schriftenreihe des Stadtarchivs Konstanz'', vol. 6). UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 2007, , pp. 61 f. Hofmann was reproached for falsely holding the title of

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

, which he had never received in the GDR. A reticent city and the realities of did not help to quickly clarify the facts of the case. After his call to Tokyo, Hofmann resigned from Konstanz and worked from 1965 to 1967 as one of two ''Permanent Conductors'' of the newly founded Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Recordings

* Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: '' Violin Concerto E minor'' (Saphir 1977) with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz and

Wolfgang Marschner Wolfgang Marschner (23 May 1926 – 24 March 2020) was a German violinist, teacher of violin, composer and conductor. He was concertmaster of the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and instrumental in world premieres of contemporary music. He was profe ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Heinz 20th-century German conductors (music) German prisoners of war 1917 births Date of death unknown Musicians from Wrocław

Life

Recordings

Further reading

References

External links