He graduated from the University of Koenigsberg, where he studied legal law.
After a short practice in the court of the city of Glogau (Glogow), Hoffmann successfully passed the exam for the rank of assessor in Berlin and was assigned to Poznan.
In 1802, after a scandal caused by his caricature of a representative of the upper class, Hoffmann was transferred to the Polish town of Plock, which in 1793 was ceded to Prussia.
In 1804, Hoffmann moved to Warsaw, where he devoted all his leisure time to music, several of his musical stage works were staged in the theater. Through the efforts of Hoffmann, a philharmonic society and a symphony orchestra were organized.
In 1808-1813 he served as bandmaster at the theater in Bamberg (Bavaria). During the same period, he worked as a singing lesson for the daughters of the local nobility. Here he wrote the operas Aurora and Duettini, which he dedicated to his student Julia Mark. In addition to operas, Hoffmann was the author of symphonies, choirs, and chamber compositions.
His first articles were placed on the pages of the Universal Musical Gazette, of which he had been an employee since 1809. Hoffmann imagined music as a special world capable of revealing to a person the meaning of his feelings and passions, as well as comprehending the nature of everything mysterious and inexpressible. Hoffmann's musical and aesthetic views were vividly expressed in his short stories Cavalier Gluck (1809), Musical Sufferings of Johann Kreisler, Kapellmeister (1810), Don Giovanni (1813), and the dialogue Poet and Composer (1813). Hoffmann's stories were later combined in the collection "Fantasy in the spirit of Callot" (1814-1815).
In 1816, Hoffmann returned to public service as an adviser to the Berlin Court of Appeal, where he served until the end of his life.
In 1816, Hoffmann's most famous opera, Ondine, was staged, but a fire that destroyed all the scenery put an end to its great success.
After that, in addition to his service, he devoted himself to literary work. The collection "Serapion's Brothers" (1819-1821), the novel "Everyday Views of Cat Murr" (1820-1822) earned Hoffmann worldwide fame. The fairy tale "The Golden Pot" (1814), the novel "Devil's Elixir" (1815-1816), the story in the spirit of the fairy tale "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" (1819) gained fame.
Hoffmann's novel "The Lord of the Fleas" (1822) led to conflict with the Prussian government, compromising parts of the novel were withdrawn and published only in 1906.
Since 1818, the writer developed a disease of the spinal cord, which for several years led to paralysis.
June 25, 1822 Hoffmann died. He was buried in the third cemetery of the Church of John of Jerusalem.
Hoffmann's works influenced the German composers Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner. Hoffmann's poetic images were embodied in the works of composers Schumann ("Kreislerian"), Wagner ("Flying Dutchman"), Tchaikovsky ("The Nutcracker"), Adolphe Adam ("Giselle"), Leo Delibes ("Coppelia"), Ferruccio Busoni (" The Choice of the Bride"), Paul Hindemith ("Cardillac") and others. The plots for the operas were the works of Hoffmann "Master Martin and his apprentices", "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober", "Princess Brambilla" and others. Hoffmann is the hero of the operas by Jacques Offenbach "Tales of Hoffmann".
Hoffmann was married to the daughter of the Poznań clerk Michalina Rohrer. Their only daughter Cecilia died at the age of two.
In the German city of Bamberg, in the house where Hoffmann and his wife lived on the second floor, a writer's museum has been opened. In Bamberg there is a monument to the writer holding the cat Murr.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus(1776-1822) - German writer, composer and artist of a romantic direction, who gained fame thanks to fairy tales that combine mysticism with reality and reflect the grotesque and tragic sides of human nature. The most famous fairy tales of Hoffmann:, and many other fairy tales for children.
Biography of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus(1776-1822) - - German writer, composer and artist of the romantic direction, who gained fame thanks to stories that combine mysticism with reality and reflect the grotesque and tragic sides of human nature.
One of the brightest talents of the 19th century, a romantic of the second stage, which influenced the writers of subsequent literary eras up to the present.
The future writer was born on January 24, 1776 in Königsberg in the family of a lawyer, studied law and worked in various institutions, but did not make a career: the world of officials and activities related to writing papers could not attract an intelligent, ironic and widely gifted person.
The beginning of Hoffmann's independent life coincided with the Napoleonic wars and the occupation of Germany. While working in Warsaw, he witnessed her capture by the French. Their own material disorder was superimposed on the tragedy of the entire state, which gave rise to a split and a tragic-ironic perception of the world.
Discord with his wife and hopeless love for his student, who was younger than him - a married man - by 20 years, increased the feeling of alienation in the world of philistines. Feeling for Julia Mark, that was the name of the girl he loved, formed the basis of the most exalted female images of his works.
Hoffmann's circle of acquaintances included the romantic writers Fouquet, Chamisso, Brentano, and the famous actor L. Devrient. Hoffmann owns several operas and ballets, the most significant of which are "Ondine", written on the plot of "Ondine" by Fouquet, and musical accompaniment to the grotesque "Merry Musicians" by Brentano.
The beginning of Hoffmann's literary activity falls on 1808-1813. - the period of his life in Bamberg, where he was a conductor at the local theater and gave music lessons. The first short story-tale "Cavalier Gluck" is dedicated to the personality of the composer who is especially revered by him, the name of the artist is included in the title of the first collection - "Fantasy in the manner of Callot" (1814-1815).
Among the most famous works of Hoffmann are the short story "The Golden Pot", the fairy tale "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober", the collections "Night Stories", "The Serapion Brothers", the novels "Worldly Views of the Cat Murr", "Devil's Elixir".
A major prose writer, Hoffmann opened a new page in the history of German romantic literature. His role is also great in the field of music as the initiator of the genre of romantic opera, and especially as a thinker who first expounded the musical and aesthetic provisions of romanticism. As a publicist and critic, Hoffmann created a new artistic form of music criticism, which was then developed by many major romantics (Weber, Berlioz and others). The pseudonym as a composer is Johann Chrysler.
Hoffmann's life, his creative path is a tragic story of an outstanding, multi-talented artist, misunderstood by his contemporaries.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) was born in Königsberg, the son of a Queen's Counsel. After the death of his father, Hoffmann, who was then only 4 years old, was brought up in his uncle's family. Already in childhood, Hoffmann's love for music and painting manifested itself. 
THIS. Hoffmann - a lawyer who dreamed of music, and became famous as a writer
During his stay at the gymnasium, he made significant progress in playing the piano and in drawing. In 1792-1796, Hoffmann took a course of science at the Faculty of Law of the University of Königsberg. From the age of 18 he began to give music lessons. Hoffmann dreamed of musical creativity.
“Oh, if I could act according to the inclinations of my nature, I would certainly become a composer,” he wrote to one of his friends. “I am convinced that in this area I could be a great artist, and in the field of jurisprudence I will always remain a nonentity”
After graduating from university, Hoffmann holds minor judicial positions in the small town of Glogau. Wherever Hoffmann lived, he continued to study music and painting.
The most important event in Hoffmann's life was a visit to Berlin and Dresden in 1798. The artistic values of the Dresden art gallery, as well as the various impressions of the concert and theatrical life of Berlin, made a great impression on him. 
Hoffmann riding the cat Murre fights the Prussian bureaucracy
In 1802, for one of his evil caricatures of the higher authorities, Hoffmann was removed from his post in Posen and sent to Plock (a remote Prussian province), where he was essentially in exile. In Płock, dreaming of a trip to Italy, Hoffmann studied Italian, studied music, painting, caricature.
By this time (1800-1804) is the appearance of his first major musical works. Two piano sonatas (f-moll and F-dur), a quintet in c-moll for two violins, viola, cello and harp, a four-voice mass in d-moll (accompanied by an orchestra) and other works were written in Płock. In Płock, the first critical article was written on the use of the choir in modern drama (in connection with Schiller's Bride of Messina, published in 1803 in one of the Berlin newspapers).
The beginning of a creative career
At the beginning of 1804, Hoffmann was assigned to Warsaw. The provincial atmosphere of Plock oppressed Hoffmann. He complained to friends and sought to get out of the "vile little place." At the beginning of 1804, Hoffmann was assigned to Warsaw.
In the large cultural center of that time, Hoffmann's creative activity took on a more intense character. Music, painting, literature master it to an ever greater extent. The first musical and dramatic works of Hoffmann were written in Warsaw. This is a singspiel to the text by C. Brentano "The Merry Musicians", music to the drama by E. Werner "The Cross on the Baltic Sea", a one-act singspiel "Uninvited guests, or the Canon of Milan", an opera in three acts "Love and Jealousy" on the plot of P. Calderon , as well as the Es-dur symphony for large orchestra, two piano sonatas and many other works.
Heading the Warsaw Philharmonic Society, Hoffmann acted as a conductor in symphony concerts in 1804-1806 and lectured on music. At the same time, he carried out a picturesque painting of the premises of the Society.
In Warsaw, Hoffmann got acquainted with the works of German romantics, major writers and poets: Aug. Schlegel, Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), W. G. Wackenroder, L. Tieck, K. Brentano, who had a great influence on his aesthetic views.
Hoffmann and theater
Hoffmann's intensive activity was interrupted in 1806 by the invasion of Warsaw by Napoleon's troops, who destroyed the Prussian army and dissolved all Prussian institutions. Hoffman was left without a livelihood. In the summer of 1807, with the help of friends, he moved to Berlin and then to Bamberg, where he lived until 1813. In Berlin, Hoffmann found no use for his versatile abilities. From an advertisement in a newspaper, he learned about the position of bandmaster in the city theater of Bamberg, where he moved at the end of 1808. But not having worked there even for a year, Hoffmann left the theater, not wanting to put up with the routine and cater to the backward tastes of the public. 
As a composer, Hoffmann took a pseudonym for himself - Johann Chrysler
In search of a job, in 1809 he turned to the well-known music critic I. F. Rokhlits, the editor of the General Musical Gazette in Leipzig, with a proposal to write a number of reviews and short stories on musical themes. Rochlitz suggested to Hoffmann as a theme the story of a brilliant musician who had reached complete poverty. This is how the ingenious "Kreisleriana" arose - a series of essays about bandmaster Johannes Kreisler, musical novels "Cavalier Gluck", "Don Juan" and the first musical critical articles.
In 1810, when the composer's old friend Franz Holbein was at the head of the Bamberg theater, Hoffmann returned to the theater, but now as a composer, decorator and even architect. Under the influence of Hoffmann, the theater's repertoire included works by Calderon in translations of Aug. Schlegel (shortly before, first published in Germany).
Musical creativity of Hoffmann
In 1808-1813, many musical works were created:
- romantic opera in four acts The Drink of Immortality
- music for the drama "Julius Sabin" by Soden
- operas "Aurora", "Dirna"
- one-act ballet "Harlequin"
- piano trio E-dur
- string quartet, motets
- four-part choirs a cappella
- Miserere with orchestra accompaniment
- many works for voice and orchestra
- vocal ensembles (duets, quartet for soprano, two tenors and bass and others)
- in Bamberg, Hoffmann began work on his best work - the opera Ondine
When F. Holbein left the theater in 1812, Hoffmann's position worsened, and he was forced to look for a position again. Lack of livelihood forced Hoffmann to return to the legal service. In the autumn of 1814 he moved to Berlin, where from that time he held various positions in the Ministry of Justice. However, Hoffmann's soul still belonged to literature, music, painting ... He rotates in the literary circles of Berlin, meets with L. Tieck, C. Brentano, A. Chamisso, F. Fouquet, G. Heine. 
The best work of Hoffmann was and remains the opera "Ondine"
At the same time, the fame of Hoffmann the musician is growing. In 1815, his music for Fouquet's solemn prologue was performed at the Royal Theater in Berlin. A year later, in August 1816, the premiere of Ondine took place in the same theater. The staging of the opera was remarkable for its unusual splendor and was warmly received by the public and the musicians.
Ondine was the last major musical work of the composer and at the same time a composition that opened a new era in the history of the romantic opera theater in Europe. The further creative path of Hoffmann is connected mainly with literary activity, with his most significant works:
- Devil's Elixir (novel)
- "Golden Pot" (fairy tale)
- "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (fairy tale)
- "Someone else's child" (fairy tale)
- "Princess Brambilla" (fairy tale)
- "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" (fairy tale)
- Majorat (story)
- four volumes of stories "Serapion brothers" and others ...
Statue depicting Hoffmann with his cat Murr Hoffmann's literary work culminated in the creation of the novel The Worldly Views of Cat Murr, Together with Fragments of the Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, Accidentally Surviving in Waste Sheets (1819-1821).
Biography
Hoffmann was born in the family of the Prussian royal lawyer Christoph Ludwig Hoffmann (1736-1797), but when the boy was three years old, his parents separated, and he was brought up in the house of his maternal grandmother under the influence of his uncle, a lawyer, an intelligent and talented man, prone to fantasy and mysticism. Hoffmann showed early aptitude for music and drawing. But, not without the influence of his uncle, Hoffmann chose for himself the path of jurisprudence, from which he tried to break out all his subsequent life and earn money with the arts.
Hoffmann's hero tries to escape from the shackles of the world around him by means of irony, but, realizing the impotence of the romantic confrontation with real life, the writer himself laughs at his hero. Hoffmann's romantic irony changes its direction; unlike the Jenese, it never creates the illusion of absolute freedom. Hoffmann focuses close attention on the personality of the artist, believing that he is the most free from selfish motives and petty worries.
Artworks
- Collection "Fantasy in the manner of Callo" (German. Fantasiestucke in Callot's Manier), contains
- Essay "Jacques Callot" (German Jaques Callot)
- Novella "Cavalier Gluck" (German: Ritter Gluck)
- "Chrysleriana" (I) (German Kreisleriana)
- Novella "Don Juan" (German Don Juan)
- "The news of the further fate of the Berganz dog" (German. Nachricht von den neuesten Schicksalen des Hundes Berganza)
- "Magnetizer" (German Der Magnetiseur)
- The story " The golden pot"(German Der goldene Topf)
- "New Year's Eve Adventure" Die Abenteuer der Silvesternacht)
- "Kreisleriana" (II) (German Kreisleriana)
- "Princess Blandina" (1814) (German: Prinzessin Blandina)
- The novel "Elixirs of Satan" (German. Die Elixiere des Teufels)
- Fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (German Nußknacker und Mausekönig)
- The collection "Night Studies" (German: Nachtstücke), contains
- "Sand Man" (German Der Sandmann)
- "Vow" (German: Das Gelübde)
- "Ignaz Denner" (German Ignaz Denner)
- "Church of the Jesuits" (German: Die Jesuiterkirche in G.)
- "Majorat" (German Das Majorat)
- "Empty House" (German: Das öde Haus)
- "Sanctus" (German Das Sanctus)
- "Stone Heart" (German: Das steinerne Herz)
- The short story "The Unusual Sufferings of the Theater Director" (German. Seltsame Leiden eines Theater-Directors)
- The story "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" (German. Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober)
- "Player's Happiness" (German Spielerglück )
- The collection "Serapion Brothers" (German: Die Serapionsbrüder), contains
- "Falun Mines" ((German Die Bergwerke zu Falun)
- "Doge and Dogaresse" ((German Doge und Dogaresse)
- "Master Martin-Bochar and his apprentices" (German. Meister Martin der Küfner und seine Gesellen)
- Novella "Mademoiselle de Scudéry" (German: Das Fräulein von Scudéry)
- "Princess Brambilla" (1820) (German: Prinzessin Brambilla)
- The novel "Worldly views of the cat Murr" (German. Lebensansichten des Katers Murr)
- "Mistakes" (German: Die Irrungen)
- "Secrets" (German: Die Geheimnisse)
- "Twins" (German: Die Doppeltgänger)
- The novel "Lord of the Fleas" (German Meister Floh)
- Novel "Corner Window" (German Des Vetters Eckfenster)
- "Sinister guest" (German: Der unheimliche Gast)
- Opera "Ondine" ().
Bibliography
- Theodor Hoffman. Collected Works in eight volumes. - St. Petersburg: "Printing house of the Panteleev brothers", 1896 - 1899.
- E. T. A. Hoffman. Musical novels. - Moscow.: "World Literature", 1922.
- E. T. A. Hoffman. Collected works in seven volumes. - Moscow.: "Publishing Association "Nedra"", 1929.(under the general editorship of P.S. Kogan. With a portrait of the author. Translation from German, edited by Z.A. Vershinina)
- Hoffmann. Selected works in three volumes .. - Moscow .: "State Publishing House of Fiction", 1962
- THIS. Hoffmann. Kreislerian. Worldly views of the cat Murr. Diaries .. - Moscow .: "Science", 1972
- Hoffmann. Collected works in six volumes .. - Moscow .: "Fiction", 1991-2000.
- THIS. Hoffmann. Elixirs of Satan .. - Moscow .: "Republic", 1992. - ISBN 5-250-02103-4
- THIS. Hoffmann. Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober. - Moscow.: "Rainbow", 2002. - ISBN 5-05-005439-7
Ballets based on the works of E. T. A. Hoffmann
- Ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker" (first production in 1892).
- Coppelia (Coppelia, or Beauty with blue eyes, fr. Coppélia) is a comic ballet by the French composer Leo Delibes. The libretto was written based on the short story by E. Hoffmann "The Sandman" by Charles Nuitter and the choreographer of the performance A. Saint-Leon).
- Ballet by S. M. Slonimsky "The Magic Nut" (first production in 2005).
Screen adaptations
- Nut Krakatuk - a film by Leonid Kvinikhidze
- The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (cartoon), 1999
- The Nutcracker and the Rat King (3D movie), 2010
In astronomy
The asteroid (640) Brambilla is named after the heroine of Hoffmann's "Princess Brambilla" (English) Russian opened in 1907.
- Hoffmann in his name Ernest Theodor Wilhelm changed the last movement to Amadeus after Mozart's favorite composer.
- Hoffman is one of the writers who influenced the work of E. A. Poe, G. F. Lovecraft, and M. M. Shemyakin. He influenced the work of the Russian rock musician, leader of the groups Agatha Christie and Gleb Samoiloff & the Matrixx Gleb Samoilov.
Notes
Literature
- Berkovsky N. Ya. Preface.//Hoffman E. T. A. Novels and stories. L., 1936.
- Berkovsky N. Ya. Romanticism in Germany. L., 1973.
- Botnikova A. B. E. T. A. Hoffman and Russian literature. Voronezh, 1977.
- Vetchinov K.M. The adventures of Hoffmann - police investigator, state adviser, composer, artist and writer. Pushchino, 2009.
- Karelsky A. V. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman // E. T. A. Hoffman. Sobr. Cit.: In 6 volumes. T. 1. M .: Hood. literature, 1991.
- Mirimsky IV Hoffman // History of German Literature. T. 3. M.: Nauka, 1966.
- Turaev S.V. Hoffman // History of World Literature. T. 6. M.: Nauka, 1989.
- The Russian circle of Hoffmann (compiled by N. I. Lopatina with the participation of D. V. Fomin, editor-in-chief Yu. G. Fridshtein). - M .: Center for the Book of VGBIL named after M. I. Rudomino, 2009-672 s: ill.
- The Artistic World of E. T. A. Hoffmann. M., 1982.
- E. T. A. Hoffman. Life and art. Letters, statements, documents / Per. with him. Compiled K. Gyuntsel .. - M .: Rainbow, 1987. - 464 p.
Links
- A. Kirpichnikov.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus in the library of Maxim Moshkov
- Works in Russian and German, music, Hoffmann's drawings on etagofman.narod.ru
- Sergei Kuriy - "Phantasmagoria of reality (fairy tales by E. T. A. Hoffmann)", Vremya Z magazine No. 1/2007
- Lukov Vl. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus // Electronic Encyclopedia "The World of Shakespeare".
Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus (Wilhelm), one of the most original and fantastic German writers, was born January 24, 1774 in Konigsberg, died July 24, 1822 in Berlin.
A lawyer by training, he chose the judicial profession, in 1800 he became an assessor of the chamberlain in Berlin, but soon, for several insulting cartoons, he was transferred to the service in Warsaw, and with the invasion of the French in 1806 he finally lost his post. Possessing remarkable musical talent, he existed as music lessons, articles in music magazines, was an opera bandmaster in Bamberg (1808), Dresden and Leipzig (1813-15). In 1816, Hoffmann again received a position as a member of the royal chamberlain in Berlin, where he died after excruciating suffering from a spinal cord.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. self-portrait
He has been passionate about music since his youth. In Poznań, he staged Goethe's operetta Joke, Cunning and Revenge; in Warsaw - "Merry Musicians" by Brentano and, moreover, operas: "The Canon of Milan" and "Love and Jealousy", the text of which he himself composed according to foreign models. He also wrote music for Werner's Cross on the Baltic Sea and Fouquet's opera adaptation of Fouquet's Ondine for the Berlin theater.
An invitation to collect articles scattered in the Musical Gazette prompted him to publish a collection of short stories, Fantasies in the Manner of Callot (1814), which aroused considerable interest and earned him the nickname "Hoffmann-Callot". This was followed by: "Vision on the battlefield of Dresden" (1814); the novel Elixirs of Satan (1816); the story-tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (1816); the collection "Night Studies" (1817); essay "The Extraordinary Sufferings of a Theater Director" (1818); the collection "The Serapion Brothers" (1819-1821, which includes the famous masterpieces "Master Martin-bochar and his apprentices", "Mademoiselle de Scudery", "Arthur's Hall", "Doge and Dogaressa"); fairy tales "Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" (1819); "Princess Brambilla" (1821); novels "Lord of the Fleas" (1822); "Worldly views of the cat Murr" (1821) and a number of later works.
Geniuses and villains. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
Hoffmann was an extremely original personality, gifted with extraordinary talents, wild, intemperate, passionately devoted to nighttime revelry, but at the same time an excellent business man and lawyer. With a sharp and healthy rationality, thanks to which he quickly noticed the weak and ridiculous sides of phenomena and things, he, however, was distinguished by all kinds of fantastic views and an amazing belief in demonism. Eccentric in his inspiration, epicurean to the point of effeminacy and stoic to the point of rigidity, a science fiction writer to the ugliest madness and a witty mocker to the point of unimaginative prosaicness, he combined in himself the strangest opposites, which are characteristic of most of the plots of his stories. In all his works, the absence of calmness is noticed first of all. His imagination and humor irresistibly draw the reader along. Gloomy images are constant companions of action; the wild-demonic breaks even into the everyday world of philistine modernity. But even in the most fantastic, formless works, the features of Hoffmann's great talent, his genius, his ebullient wit, are manifested.
As a music critic, he stood for G. Spontini and Italian music against C. M. f. Weber and the flourishing German opera, but contributed to the understanding Mozart And Beethoven. Hoffmann was also an excellent caricaturist; he owns several cartoons of
