Hoffstetter, Roman

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Hoffstetter, Roman

Hoffstetter, Roman, German composer; b. Laudenbach, near Bad Mergentheim, April 24, 1742; d. Miltenberg, May 21, 1815. He was a member of the Benedictine monastery of Amorbach. After being ordained a priest in 1766, he was active as regens chori there. He settled in Miltenberg in 1803. He greatly admired the music of Haydn, and his chamber music so closely resembled Haydn’s that it was long attributed to him. The works in question are the 2 string quartets written c. 1765, as well as the publ. 6 String Quartets, op.l (Amsterdam, c. 1770), and 6 String Quartets, op.3 (Paris, 1777). He also wrote 3 cello concertos and a number of masses.

Bibliography

H. Unverricht, Die beiden H. (Mainz, 1968; includes thematic catalog).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire