About
Georg von Hofmann (born October 29, 1769 (according to other sources: 1771) in Vienna, † May 7, 1845 ibid) was an Austrian occasional poet.
Life and work
Hofmann was a secretary at the Vienna Theater am Kärntnertor and as successor to Georg Friedrich Treitschke opera poet there. He translated many foreign-language opera librettos into German. He wrote two poems to which Franz Schubert composed the music in 1820: The Magic Harp (D 644) and The Twin Brothers (D 647). Hofmann is also said to have provided the textual basis for the alleged trial work, with which Schubert was said to have applied for a vice-Kapellmeister position at the Kärntnertortheater in 1826 according to Anton Schindler, which had failed because of the behavior of the prima donna Nanette Schechner. Otto Erich German called this event, however, as implausible.
Works
Spectacles
- Ludwig and Louise, or: The 9th Thermidor (drama) 1815
- Country life (comedy) 1817
- The hunting lodge (comedy) 1819
- Yes! (Comedy) 1825
Libretti
- Helene (opera, music by Adalbert Gyrowetz) 1816
- The Rosenhütchen (Great Magic Opera, Music by Carl Blum) 1819
- The pages of the Duke of Vendôme (opera, music by Carl Blum) 1820
- The Twin Brothers (Posse, music by Franz Schubert) 1820
- The magic harp (magic play with music by Franz Schubert) 1820
- The spell (opera after Carlo Gozzi's The Raven, music by Johann Peter Pixis) 1822
- The oxmenuette (Singspiel, music after Joseph Haydn by Ignaz von Seyfried) 1823
- The pinch of tobacco, or: The cousins as a rival (Singspiel) 1825
- The steward (Singspiel) 1825
- Strange mood, or: You're married (Singspiel) 1825
- The robbers and the singer (operetta) 1830
- Sylva, or: The power of song (opera, music by Karl August Krebs) 1830
- The Diver (Romantic Opera, Music by Conradin Kreutzer) 1834
Translations
- Olympia (opera, translation, libretto by Michel Dieulafoy and Charles Brifaut, music by Gaspare Spontini) 1825
- The Blind Harper (opera, translation, libretto by Michel Dieulafoy, music by Adalbert Gyrowetz) 1828
- Semiramis (opera, translation, libretto by Gaetano Rossi, music by Gioachino Rossini) 1833
- The Ballnacht (Grand Opera, translation together with Ignaz von Seyfried, libretto by Eugène Scribe, music by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber) 1835 [5]
- The Jewess (great opera, translation, libretto by Eugène Scribe, music by Jacques Halévy) 1836