Hofmann as a young man at the keyboard.

Józef Kazimierz Hofmann (born January 20, 1876 in Krakau (Kraków), Austria-Hungary; died February 16, 1957 in Los Angeles), was a Polish-American virtuoso pianist and composer. Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Year 1876 ( MDCCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Kraków, in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow (ˈkrækaʊ M-W: krăk'ou krāk'ō is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West A Polish American is an American citizen of Polish descent There are an estimated 10 million Americans of Polish descent A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning skill manliness excellence is an individual A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Many connoisseurs consider him one of the greatest pianists of all time. ^[1]

He was a child prodigy who played a long series of sensationally received concerts throughout Europe and Scandinavia at the age of ten, culminating with a series of concerts in America in late 1887 and early 1888 at which he became a media celebrity. List of child prodigies|Fictional child prodigies A child prodigy is a one who masters one or more skills or arts at an early age Following controversy over alleged child exploitation, Alfred Corning Clark donated $50,000 for Hofmann to retire from the stage until the age of 18^[2]. Alfred Corning Clark ( November 14, 1844 &ndash April 8, 1896) was the son of Edward Clark, a founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Clark's donation made possible studies with the famous teacher and composer Moritz Moszkowski and Russian virtuoso and composer Anton Rubinstein. Moritz (Maurice Moszkowski ( 23 August 1854, Breslau, Prussia (now Wroclaw, Poland) - 4 March 1925 This article is about the 19th century Russian pianist and composer Hofmann became Rubinstein's only private pupil and later, his leading disciple. Hofmann was also a gifted inventor who invented mechanisms for the piano and automobiles, with numerous patents to his credit.

Rubinstein arranged Hofmann's debut as a mature pianist, which took place in Hamburg, Germany on March 14, 1894. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Hofmann played Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 4 in D minor with the composer on the podium. After this concert, Hofmann reentered the life of a touring virtuoso. Especially popular in Russia, he gave 21 consecutive concerts in St. Petersburg, not repeating a single piece. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River In all, he played 255 different works during that marathon. ^[3]

Once Hofmann had learned a piece of music, it was apparently in his mind and fingers for good. This was fortunate for Hofmann, for he reportedly never practiced. In the diary his wife kept during his 1909 tour, she mentions his raising his eyebrows when he saw Brahms' Handel Variations on a program—a piece he had not played or even looked at for two and a half years. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op 24 is a work for solo Piano written by Johannes Brahms in 1861 a set of twenty-five variations and He played the work at the concert without a thought or hesitation. ^[4]

Hofmann, reportedly, also had the ability to hear a composition just once and play it back flawlessly without seeing the printed note. Again, this was fortunate—Hofmann was a poor sight reader. Rosina Lhevinne, wife of pianist Josef Lhevinne and a virtuoso pianist in her own right, claimed Hofmann heard her husband play Franz Liszt's Lorelei, a piece Hofmann had supposedly never studied or heard. Rosina Lhévinne (born Rosina Bessie, March 29 1880 in Kiev, Russia (now Ukraine) - November 9 1976 in Josef Lhévinne ( 13 December 1874 &ndash 2 December 1944) was a Russian Pianist and piano teacher Hofmann played it as an encore at his concert that evening. ^[5]

The difficulty of a piece apparently did not affect Hofmann's ability to absorb it. Maurice Aronson, who served as pianist Leopold Godowsky's assistant, told of Hofmann "learning" Godowsky's Fledermaus transcription. Leopold Godowsky (Leopold Godowski ( February 13, 1870 &ndash November 21, 1938) was a famed Polish - American pianist composer Godowsky and Hofmann met in Berlin in 1900, becoming life-long friends. Hofmann would visit Godowsky's studio and sit open-mouthed while Godowsky was working out Fledermaus. Hofmann's father finally ran into Godowsky and asked, "What have you done to Josef? He sits home all day and plays Strauss waltzes. " A week or so later, Hofmann visited Godowsky and played the entire transcription, note for note. Hofmann had never seen the music; in fact, Godowsky had not yet written it down. Harold C. Schonberg, in his book The Great Pianists, adds "that Godowsky's Fledermaus is one of the most fantastic, resourceful and complicated stunts ever written for the piano. ^[6]"

Hofmann made the United States his base during World War I. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He became a citizen and was appointed the first head of the piano department at the Curtis Institute of Music when it was created in 1924. The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia Pennsylvania that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma Bachelor of Music He became the institute's director in 1927, a position he kept until 1938^[7]. Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hofmann's pupils included Jeanne Behrend, Abbey Simon, Abram Chasins, Shura Cherkassky, William Harms, Harry Kaufman, Ezra Rachlin, Nadia Reisenberg, Ruth Slenczynska and several other of the most talented young students of the day. Abram Chasins ( August 17, 1903 &ndash June 21, 1987) was an American Composer and Pianist. Shura Cherkassky ( October 7, 1909 – December 27, 1995) was a Ukrainian classical Pianist known for his performances of Ruth Slenczynska (born January 15, 1925) is an American pianist While not a pupil, Jorge Bolet benefited from Hofmann's interest. Jorge Bolet ( November 15, 1914 &ndash October 16, 1990) was a Cuban Pianist, conductor and teacher

Hofmann made a few commercial recordings beginning in 1903 through the 1930s. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He also made some of the earliest recordings of classical music for Thomas Edison. These have been lost, but some cylinders he made in Russia a few years later have recently been discovered. He made two series of reproducing piano rolls, including in 1913, 23 pieces for Welte-Mignon. M Welte & Sons Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of Orchestrions organs and Reproducing pianos From 1832 until 1932 the firm produced mechanical He reaped a huge income from their issue, but never trusted rolls as accurate representations of his playing. This distrust also extended to acoustical recordings, in part because Hofmann noted that he never played any piece the same way twice. Recordings of broadcasts of a number of Hofmann's live performances have survived, and all of these recordings have been published on compact discs under the auspices of Gregor Benko and audio restorer Ward Marston. Gregor Benko (born August 4 1944 Cleveland Ohio is an American writer lecturer record producer and collector-historian whose primary focus is classical piano performance documented

Hofmann's playing began to decline during the 1940s, mostly due to alcoholism. He recorded a Bell Telephone sound film in 1945 and gave his last concert in 1946. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

A full house, seen from the rear of the stage, at the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Josef Hofmann's debut, November 28, 1937

He had very small (but exceptionally strong) hands, and like several other famous pianists, found the situation more of a nuisance than a handicap. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Steinway eventually built him a custom keyboard with slightly narrower keys. It is said that once, following a concert, a woman asked Hofmann how he could possibly play so well with such small hands, and he reportedly answered: "Madam, what makes you think that I play with my hands?"^[8]

Sergei Rachmaninoff considered Hofmann his superior as a pianist and dedicated his Piano Concerto No. 3 to him. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов The Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor Op 30 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (colloquially known as the "Rach 3") is famous for its technical and musical demands Hofmann never played it. According to his first wife, he did not care for the piece, which he considered lacking in form (ref. "The Amazing Marriage of Josef Hofmann and Marie Eustis").

Hofmann possessed extraordinary technical skill, poetry, color, and imagination. Volcanic interpretations of pieces like Chopin's Fourth Ballade (performed in the "Historic Casimir Hall Recital" of 1938) show just how much Hofmann's playing had in common with Rubinstein, and how different his interpretations are from those of any modern pianists.

Hofmann's invention of pneumatic shock absorbers for cars and planes earned him a fortune in the early twentieth century. His other inventions included medical devices, a furnace that burned crude oil, a device to record dynamics^[9] in reproducing piano rolls that he perfected just as the roll companies went bust, another piano invention^[10], and a house that revolved with the sun. The player piano is a self-playing Piano, containing a pneumatic mechanism that plays on the piano action pre-programmed Music via perforated paper rolls He spent his last years working on improvements in piano recording.

He was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music. Phi Mu Alpha (ΦΜΑ Sinfonia is a collegiate social fraternity for men with an interest in music

References

1. ^ Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists from Mozart to the Present, Second Edition, Simon & Schuster, 1987
2. ^ Schonberg, Harold C. , The Great Pianists (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987, 1963), 384
3. ^ Schonberg, 385
4. ^ Schonberg, 385
5. ^ Schonberg, 386-387
6. ^ Schonberg, 386-387
7. ^ Schonberg, 385-386
8. ^ Joe Laredo, in International Piano, No. 49, January/February 2007, Newsquest Specialist Media Ltd.
9. ^ [http://www.google.com/patents?id=LLVCAAAAEBAJ EECOBDEB FOB MUSICAL DYNAMICS JOSEF HOFMANN, U. S. patent number 1614984]
10. ^ PIANO ACTION, Josef Hofmann, U.S. patent number 2263088

External links

• Josef Hofmann Collection, International Piano Archives, University of Maryland
• Józef Hofmann was listed in the International Music Score Library Project