Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

Les Contes d'Hoffmann
The Tales of Hoffmann

The Real Hoffmann

Chris Myers

When Jules Barbier and Michel Carré set out to write a play based on the works of E.T.A Hoffmann, they selected three stories: Der Sandman (1816), Rat Krespel (1818), and Die Abendteuer der Silvester-Nacht (1815). What better way to provide dramatic unity to these disparate tales than by having the author himself guide us through them? By the mid-19th century, the figure of E.T.A. Hoffmann gained almost mythical stature in the minds of artists, and works such as Les contes d'Hoffmann only served to enhance the legend.

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is best remembered as the author of numerous fantastic tales, including those adapted in Offenbach's opera, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His tales epitomized the fascination with the supernatural and uncanny which characterized one major aspect of the Romantic movement. He was an influential and highly opinionated music critic who used his reviews to promote his particular view of Romanticism. He was also a well-regarded visual artist particularly gifted in the art of caricature.

The opera's portrayal of Hoffmann as the tortured artist isn't entirely off the mark, but it was rarely his poetry which tortured him in this way-Hoffmann considered himself above all else to be an extremely gifted composer and devoted his heart and soul to composing music. Unfortunately for him, few others shared this assessment of his work. Hoffmann would be depressed to see that his music has been wholly eclipsed by his literary works, but it would come as little surprise to him; it fits right into the frustrating pattern of his life.

Hoffmann was born into something of a dysfunctional family. His father was a highly successful attorney in Königsberg, but Hoffmann's parents separated when he was two years old, and he was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother. Hoffmann quickly showed a gift for art and music, but, in keeping with family tradition, he was enrolled against his will in the law program at Königsberg University, where he excelled at his studies. Throughout law school, though, he continued his studies in painting, piano, and composition.

Hoffmann's law career and music career developed side by side; his promotion in 1800 to the position of Assessor (Assistant Judge) of Posen coincided with the premiere of his first publicly performed piece, the Cantata to Celebrate the New Century. His personal life was somewhat turbulent at this time, however. After several love affairs, he became engaged to Sophie Doerffer, but the wedding was called off four years later when Hoffmann chose instead to marry Marianna Thekla Michaelina Rorer. Soon after his marriage, he was transferred to Plotzk, a provincial town in southern Prussia, as punishment for having drawn unflattering caricatures of various authorities in Posen.

Miserable in what he considered to be a backwater town, Hoffmann tried persistently to get his compositions published. He sent pieces to several publishers, but all were rejected as unworthy of publication. However, during this period, he received the judges' commendation for Der Preis, which he had entered into a literary competition. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to Warsaw, which was much more conducive to artistic creation for him. His first opera, Die lustigen Musikanten, was soon performed, and his works were a frequent presence on the weekly concerts of the Resource Music Society. His successes as a composer and performer (he conducted the Society's orchestra) were profitable enough to allow him to continue even after Napoleon's entry into Warsaw in 1806 disbanded the Prussian provincial government and left him without his official salary.

Encouraged by his success, he moved to Berlin, where his opera Der Trank der Unsterblichkeit earned him the post of music director at the Bamberg theater. However, shortly after arriving, the theater underwent a change in management, and Hoffmann was reduced to a mere theater composer, writing a number of short commissions for various productions. He still was having trouble getting his works published, but began to see success as a writer when several of his stories and reviews, including a renowned series on Beethoven's symphonies, were published.

This soon became a pattern—his persistent efforts to promote his musical career met with only partial and qualified success, while his writing career grew despite the lack of any concentrated effort on his part. Eventually, unable to find a post in any musical position, he was forced to move to Berlin and rejoin the Prussian civil service in 1813. His attempts to remain in a subordinate position which would give him a light workload and leave time for composition were in vain, however; it seems he was too good of a lawyer, and, true to form, he began to experience great success in a field in which he had no desire to succeed; he was appointed to the Kammergericht (Court of Appeals) in 1814. Throughout this period, he continued to seek employment as a music director or theater conductor, but was rejected from all positions.

In 1816, Hoffmann managed to secure a performance of his opera Undine, but this was to be the last major work of his to be performed. He strove gallantly to complete another opera, commissioning a libretto from Carl William Salice-Contessa based on Calderón's El galan fantasma, but he had trouble finding time to compose. He was inundated with requests from publishers for reviews, essays, and short stories, for which he was offered substantial sums of money. Between working as an Appellate Judge and fulfilling literary commissions, he found little time to devote to his beloved opera. Hoffmann claimed to have completed the composition in his head, but unfortunately, he died of progressive paralysis in 1822 before having had a chance to put pen to paper. He was only 46 years old.

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