Hoffmann, Hans

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Hoffmann, Hans

Hoffmann, Hans, German conductor and musicologist; b. Neustadt, Silesia, Jan. 26, 1902; d. Bielefeld, Aug. 8, 1949. He studied musicology at the Univ. of Breslau, and later in Leipzig, Berlin, and Kiel. Concurrently he took instruction in singing and for several years sang in oratorio performances in Germany. In 1933 he became a choral conductor in Hamburg, and taught theory at the Univ. of Hamburg. He was also active as a sym. and opera conductor, and in 1940 was appointed music director of the Bielefeld Opera. Among his publications were Heinrich Schütz und Johann Sebastian Bach: Zwei Tonsprachen und ihre Bedeutung für die Aufführungspraxis (Kassel, 1940) and Vom Wesen der zeitgenössischen Kirchenmusik (Kassel, 1949).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire