Hofmann, Leopold (1738-1793)

Description: A near contemporary and rival of Haydn, Leopold Hofmann was held in the highest regard in his native Vienna where he served as Kapellmeister at St Stephens Cathedral, a position to which Mozart might have succeeded had he lived. Hofmann was a prolific composer of instrumental music and his solo concertos, of which there are nearly sixty for various instruments, are among the finest written in Vienna during the mid-18th century. The Flute Concerto D1, until recently the only work of Hofmanns to be well known, was for many years believed to be a work of Haydn. Like all of Hofmanns flute concertos it is distinguished by its wonderfully idiomatic writing for the solo instrument and its sensitive handling of musical textures. Allan Badley