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LEOPOLD HOFMANN (1738 - 1793)
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Leopold Hofmann was born in 1738, in Vienna. The son of a senior and highly-educated civil servant. At
the age of seven he became a chorister in the chapel of Empress Elisabeth Christine. Here he studied the harpsichord, violin and
composition. He later studied with Court Composer Georg Christoph Wagenseil.
His first post was probably as 'musicus at St Michael's in 1758. In 1764 he became choral director at
St. Peter's Church, and in 1766 Kapellmeister. In 1772 he became Kapellmeister at the Cathedral of St.Stephan and in 1774 he
unsuccesfully petitioned for the post as director of the Imperial Chapel. He continued to hold the post of Cathedral Kapellmeister
until his death in March 1793. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Hofmann actually died a wealthy man.
Hofmann's height of fame and productivity was in the 1760s and 1770s. He wrote around sixty concertos
for various instruments, as well as symphonies, chamber music and church music.
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