Hofhaimer (also Hoffhaimer, Hoffheimer, Hofhaymer, etc.), Paul

Hofhaimer (also Hoffhaimer, Hoffheimer, Hofhaymer, etc.), Paul, greatly celebrated Austrian organist, composer, and pedagogue; b. Radstadt, Jan. 25, 1459; d. Salzburg, 1537. Although he is believed to have been self-taught as a musician, he may have received organ instruction at the court of Emperor Frederick III. He entered the service of the court of Duke Sigmund of Tyrol in Innsbruck in 1478, and was made organist for life in 1480. He was also in the service of Emperor Maximilian I from 1489, settling in Augsburg in 1507. He was knighted and ennobled by Maximilian and the Polish king in 1515, and was granted the title of Obrister [principal] Organist by the former. Following Maximilian’s death in 1519, he was made organist of the cathedral and to the archbishop of Salzburg. In addition to his fame as a virtuoso, he was renowned as a teacher. He also distinguished himself as a composer of lieder and organ works. Among his few extant works are the Harmoniae poeticae (Nuremberg, 1539; ed. by I. Achtlei-thner, Salzburg, 1868; 35 settings of Horatian odes) and 2 liturgical organ pieces, Recordare and Salve Regina. See H. J. Moser, ed., “Gesammelte Tonwerke’” Paul Hofhaimer (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1929), K. Gudewill, ed., G. Forster: Frische teutsche Liedlein (1539–1556), Das Erbe Deutscher Musik, 1^st series, XX (1942), H. Marx, ed., Tabulaturen des XVI. Jahrhunderts, I: Die Tabulaturen aus dem Besitz des Basler Humanisten Bonifacius Amerbach, Schweizerische Musikdenkmaler, VI (1967), and idem, ed., Tabulaturen des XVI. Jahrhunderts, II: Die Orgeltabu-latur des Clemens Hör, ibid., VII (1970).

Bibliography

H. J. Moser, P. H. (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1929).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire