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HOFFNUNG, GERARD Hoffnungs Potpourri
Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1976. Mass Market Paperback. Good. Cover edge wear & corner creasing, staining on front cover & page edges, pages toned, shelf wear. "Gerard Hoffnung (March 22, 1925-September 28, 1959) was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works. Born in Berlin, he was the only child of well-to-do Jewish couple, Hilde and Ludwig Hoffnung. In 1939, Hilde and Gerard left Germany for London while Ludwig went to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine to enter the family's banking business. (This temporary separation became permanent as a consequence of the Second World War.) Hoffnung died of a cerebral haemorrhage only 20 years after arriving in England but filled those two decades with significant achievement as -- amongst other things -- a cartoonist, tubist, impresario, broadcaster and public speaker. On this latter front, he was a much sought after speaker at the Oxford and Cambridge Unions. Hoffnung published a series of books of cartoons poking gentle fun at conductors and orchestral instrumentalists. After his death, some of these were turned into a short animated film by Halas and Batchelor under the title The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra, which won a number of awards in 1965-6. However, he is probably most remembered for his three Music Festivals held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. These featured humorous musical works commissioned especially for the event and written by the then contemporary composers of the day. The humour relies heavily on timing. A notable example is the 'Bricklayer's Lament' which was part of his 1958 Oxford Union Speech. Hoffnung's life was in the tradition of the Great British Eccentric, despite his European roots. He affected, consciously or otherwise, the persona of an elderly music master. His voice had the hoarseness one associates with age, its cadences slow and faltering after the fashion of the old, or perhaps in homage to Colonel Blimp. His eccentricities were legendary, to the point where stories about him are fantastic enough to be believable, as nobody would think of making them up. For instance, he is said to have been fanatic about learning to whistle entire symphonies, even calling friends who were conductors and whistling down the phone line at them to check his memory." -- Wikipedia.
Offered for US$ 2.25 by: Yesterday's Muse Books - Book number: 062551