Franz Karl Hofmann, later Charles Hofmann (176324 May 1823) was a Dutch musician and composer.

Bohemian background

Franz Karl Hofmann was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1763. Apart from the place and year of birth, virtually nothing is known about his

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n background. In Hofmann's youth,

was a part of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

Dutch period

Hofmann came to the Netherlands in his twenties. On 28 June 1787, he acquired the citizenship of the Dutch town of

Zierikzee Zierikzee () is a small city in the southwest Netherlands, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. It is situated in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland. The city hall of Schouwen-Duiveland is located in Zierikzee, its largest city. Zierikze ...

on the island of

Schouwen-Duiveland Schouwen-Duiveland () is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands province of Zeeland. The municipality has 33,737 inhabitants (1 January 2016) and covers an area of (of which is water). The northside of the island has two fi ...

. There, he earned a living by giving music lessons to children of the middle-class citizens and Latinised his name into Charles Hofmann (first name as pronounced in French). Ten years later, in 1797, the

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

appointed him as ' kapelmeester' (

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

and conductor) of the music corps (

wind ensemble A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

) of the '

schutterij Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

' (voluntary city guard) of Zierikzee. Charles Hofmann would practise this post for a long time, until a few days before his death. In 1805, the town council successfully tried to make Zierikzee more interesting for the musician Hofmann by appointing him as ''stadsmuziekmeester'' (music teacher recommended by the town government). This function was especially created for him, with an annual income attached to it. One of Hofmann's compositions is the preserved

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

of the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

song " O Mein lieber Augustin", of which the Dutch later would use the melody for the feast of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. Hofmann's composition 'Air favorit O mein lieber Augustin, varié pour violon ...' concerns eight lively

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

for violin, and was published by Plattner in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in 1809. This composition was dedicated to the young gentleman Gualtherus Holtius of the village of Koudekerk aan den Rijn. In 1997 the work was discovered at the

Netherlands Music Institute The Netherlands Music Institute (Nederlands Muziek Instituut, NMI) is the central institution for the preservation of the musical heritage of the Netherlands. History of the institute The NMI has existed as a foundation since 1996; it became full ...

, where it had been preserved. 'Hef aan', p. 20. Netherlands Music Institute (NMI), The Hague, Netherlands, nr NMI 5386
"Air favorit : O mein lieber Augustin / varié pour violon par Charles Hofmann"
Charles Hofmann Air Favorit 1809

In the years 1809–1822 Hofmann conducted balls in distinguished Zierikzee guest houses.

Freemasonry years

In 1800, when the Zierikzee

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

clubhouse was put into service, Hofmann was initiated as a mason pupil with the title of 'frère à talent' (artistic functionary). A few years later he obtained the officer's rank of 'kapelmeester' at the lodge. For a freemasonry initiation ritual Hofmann wrote or used musical annotations for

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's '' Ode an die Freude'', the famous poem

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

would use later for the final movement of his Ninth Symphony. Most probably Hofmann used just a manuscript for the ceremony. Unfortunately only the note about Hofmann's music document survived.

Marriage

At the age of 36 Charles Hofmann married Johanna Catharina Broers of Zierikzee, in his domicile on 4 January 1809. Amidst their six children there was the eldest son Jan Thomas. Jan Thomas would later name his first born son Charles Augustijn after his father, almost certainly also referring to his published 1809 violin variations.

Death

At the beginning of the year 1823 Charles Hofmann requested the town council to dismiss him as leader of the 'schutterij' music corps.Gemeentearchief Schouwen-Duiveland, Zierikzee, Netherlands, archive Dienstdoende schutterij Zierikzee 1816–1903 (class 39), inv.nr. 12. On 24 May 1823 he died at the age of 60 in his Zierikzee

dwelling In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence, abode or domicile) is a self-contained unit of accommodation – such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, recreational vehicle, or other "substantial" structure – used as a home by ...

at Oude Haven 11. This house would become part of an establishment frequently used for music events in the subsequent century. Johanna Catharina, his wife, outlived her husband for 36 years, and died in 1859. In the summer of the year of Hofmann's death the former staff musician from the town of

Steenbergen Steenbergen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is water. The municipality ...

, Magnus Eichner, succeeded Hofmann as leader of the corps of the Zierikzee 'schutterij'. The corps does still exist, albeit in another shape: as the Zierikzee royal music society ‘Kunst en Eer’.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Charles 1763 births 1823 deaths Dutch male classical composers Dutch classical composers Dutch conductors (music) Dutch male conductors (music) Dutch Freemasons People from Zierikzee Musicians from Prague Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Dutch Republic