ON THIS DAY

Composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister Died in 1812

February 9, 2023

2 MIN READ

The Viennese composer was also an important music publisher, and founded several influential publishing houses

Today marks 211 years since the death of the German-Austrian composer and publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister — an important but often neglected Viennese contemporary of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Born in Rottenburg am Neckar in 1754, Hoffmeister arrived in Vienna aged just 14, having planned to study law. By the time he completed his qualification, however, he had already settled on the idea of being a musician, having soaked up the rich musical scene on offer in the city at that time.

Hoffmeister quickly became established in Vienna as a composer, and by the 1780s, was one of the city's most popular and well-regarded composers. Crucially, he was also an early leader in the field of music publishing, founding his own firm which published works by contemporaries such as Clementi, Pleyel, and Wanhal.

Many of the period's most distinguished composers had works published by Hoffmeister — such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Notably, Mozart dedicated one of his quartets (K. 499) to Hoffmeister, who published this quartet in a single edition.

A trip to Leipzig in 1799 saw Hoffmeister meet the organist Ambrosius Kühnel, with whom he founded the successful publishing house Bureau de Musique. This operation was to grow into the familiar publishing group C. F. Peters, which is still active in our own day.

Hoffmeister's output includes more than 50 symphonies, at least eight operas, as well as many concerti, string chamber works, piano works, and songs. Much of this music was aimed at Vienna's thriving amateur music-making culture, and the flute was a particular instrument of focus — Hoffmeister composed at least 25 concerti for the flute.