Educated at the University of Koningsberg where he studied law, Hoffmann worked as a Prussian law officer before becoming involved in music and the theatre. He was a conductor, critic and theatrical musical director in Bamberg and Dresden. He turned to writing when it became obvious that he would never become a great composer. In 1809, he published Ritter Gluck, a weird tale of a musician who believes he is the composer Gluck. Music and the supernatural would go on to play a major role in his writing. During the Napoleonic Wars, Hoffmann moved frequently and suffered much deprivation and it wasn't until 1816 that he finally achieved a position of prominence as a Supreme Court justice in Berlin. In 1814, his collected tales appeared in Phantasiestucke. This was followed in 1817 by a further collection of tales in Nachtstucke. These tales inspired the composer Offenbach to write his opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Hoffmann's writing influenced many writers and composers including Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Delibes and Tchaikovsky. Hoffmann suffered what appears to have been a stroke and he became gradually paralyzed until his death in 1822. His works also included Undine (1814), The Golden Pot (1814), The Devil's Elixir (1816), The Serapion Brethren (1820) and Princess Brambilla (1821). |
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