Hoffman what he was like in life. Ernst Hoffmann short biography. The beginning of a creative journey: musical career
Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus(1776-1822) - German writer, composer and artist of the romantic movement, who became famous for his 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 Hoffmann by Ernst Theodor Amadeus
Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus(1776-1822) - - German writer, composer and artist of the romantic movement, who became famous for his 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, who influenced writers of subsequent literary eras up to the present day
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 its capture by the French. Their own material instability was superimposed on the tragedy of the entire state, which gave rise to duality and a tragically ironic perception of the world.
Discord with his wife and love for his student, devoid of hope for happiness, who was 20 years younger than him - a married man - increased the feeling of alienation in the world of philistines. His feeling for Julia Mark, that was the name of the girl he loved, formed the basis for the most sublime female images of his works.
Hoffman'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 the musical accompaniment to the grotesque Merry Musicians by Brentano.
The beginning of Hoffmann's literary activity dates back to 1808-1813. - the period of his life in Bamberg, where he was a bandmaster at the local theater and gave music lessons. The first short story-fairy tale “Cavalier Gluck” is dedicated to the personality of the composer he especially revered; the name of the artist is included in the title of the first collection - “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814-1815).
Among Hoffmann’s most famous works are the short story “The Golden Pot”, the fairy tale “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober”, the collections “Night Stories”, “Serapion’s Brothers”, the novels “The Worldly Views of the Cat Murr”, “The Devil’s Elixir”.
01/24/1776, Königsberg - 06/25/1822, Berlin
German writer, artist,
composer, music critic
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann... There is something magical in this name. It is always pronounced in full, and it appears to be surrounded by a dark ruffled collar with fiery reflections.
However, this is how it should be, because in fact Hoffmann was a magician.
Yes, yes, not just a storyteller, like the Brothers Grimm or Perrault, but a real wizard.
Judge for yourself, because only a true magician can create miracles and fairy tales... out of nothing. From a bronze doorknob with a grinning face, from nutcrackers and the hoarse chime of an old clock; from the sound of the wind in the leaves and the night singing of cats on the roof. True, Hoffmann did not wear a black robe with mysterious signs, but wore a shabby brown tailcoat and used a quill feather instead of a magic wand.
Wizards will be born wherever and whenever they please. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm (as he was originally called) was born in the glorious city of Königsberg on the day of St. John Chrysostom in the family of a lawyer.
He probably acted rashly, for nothing resists magic more than laws and law.
And so a young man who, from early childhood, loved music more than anything in the world (and even took the name Amadeus in honor of Mozart), played the piano, violin, organ, sang, drew and wrote poetry - this young man should, like all his ancestors became an official. 
Young Hoffman submitted, graduated from the university and served for many years in various judicial departments. He wandered through the cities of Prussia and Poland (which was also Prussian at that time), sneezed in dusty archives, yawned at court hearings and drew caricatures of members of the panel of judges in the margins of protocols.
More than once the ill-fated lawyer tried to quit his job, but this led to nothing. Having gone to Berlin to try his luck as an artist and musician, he almost died of hunger. In the small town of Bamberg, Hoffmann had the opportunity to be a composer and conductor, director and decorator in the theater; write articles and reviews for the “General Musical Newspaper”; give music lessons and even participate in the sale of sheet music and pianos! But this did not add either fame or money to him. Sometimes, sitting by the window in his tiny room right under the roof and looking at the night sky, he thought that things would never go well at the theater; that Julia Mark, his student, sings like an angel, and he is ugly, poor and unfree; and in general life was not a success...
Julchen was soon married off to a stupid but rich businessman and taken away forever.
Hoffmann left the disgusted Bamberg and went first to Dresden, then to Leipzig, was almost killed by a bomb during one of the last Napoleonic battles and finally... 
Either fate took pity on him, or the patron saint John Chrysostom helped, but one day the unlucky bandmaster took a pen, dipped it in an inkwell and...
It was then that crystal bells rang, golden-green snakes whispered in the foliage, and the fairy tale “The Golden Pot” (1814) was written.
And Hoffmann finally found himself and his magical country. True, some guests from this country visited him before (“Cavalier Gluck”, 1809).
A lot of wonderful stories soon accumulated, and a collection of them was compiled called “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814-1815). The book was a success, and the author immediately became famous.
“I’m like children born on Sunday: they see things that other people can’t see.”. Hoffmann's fairy tales and short stories could be funny and scary, bright and sinister, but the fantastic in them arose unexpectedly, from the most ordinary things, from life itself. This was the great secret, which Hoffmann was the first to guess.
His fame grew, but there was still no money. And so the writer is again forced to put on the uniform of a justice adviser, now in Berlin.
Melancholy overcame him in this "human desert", but still, it was here that almost all of his best books were written: “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816), “Little Tsakhes” (1819), “Night Stories” (very scary), “Princess Brambilla” (1820), “ Everyday views of the cat Murr” and much more.
Gradually, a circle of friends formed - the same romantic dreamers as Hoffmann himself. Their cheerful and serious conversations about art, the secrets of the human soul and other subjects were embodied in the four-volume cycle “Serapion's Brothers” (1819-1821).
Hoffmann was full of plans, the service did not burden him too much, and everything would have been fine, but only... “The devil can put his tail on everything”.
Councilor Hoffmann, as a member of the appeal court, stood up for an unjustly accused man, provoking the wrath of police director von Kamptz. Moreover, the daring writer portrayed this worthy figure of the Prussian state in the story “The Lord of the Fleas” (1822) under the guise of Privy Councilor Knarrpanti, who first arrested the criminal and then selected a suitable crime for him. Von Kamptz complained to the king in a rage and ordered the manuscript of the story to be confiscated. A lawsuit was brought against Hoffmann, and only the troubles of his friends and a serious illness saved him from persecution.
He was almost completely paralyzed, but did not lose hope until the end. The last miracle was the story “The Corner Window,” where an elusive life was captured on the fly and captured for us forever.
Margarita Pereslegina
WORKS OF E.T.A.HOFFMANN
COLLECTED WORKS: In 6 volumes: Transl. with him. / Preface A. Karelsky; Comment. G. Shevchenko. - M.: Artist. lit., 1991-2000.
Russia has always loved Hoffmann. Educated youth read to them in German. In the library of A.S. Pushkin there was a complete collection of Hoffmann’s works in French translations. Very soon Russian translations appeared, for example, “The History of Nutcrackers”, or “The Nutcracker and the King of Mice” - that’s what “The Nutcracker” was called then. It is difficult to list all the figures of Russian art who were influenced by Hoffmann (from Odoevsky and Gogol to Meyerhold and Bulgakov). And yet, some mysterious force for a long time prevented the publication of all E. T. A. Hoffmann’s books in Russian. Only now, almost two centuries later, we can read the writer’s famous and unfamiliar texts, collected and commented on, as befits the works of a genius.
SELECTED WORKS: In 3 volumes / Intro. Art. I. Mirimsky. - M.: Goslitizdat, 1962.
THE EVERYDAY VIEWS OF THE CAT MURR COUPLED WITH FRAGMENTS OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF Kapellmeister JOHANNES KREISLER, ACCIDENTALLY SURVIVING IN THE RECOVERY SHEETS / Trans. with him. D. Karavkina, V. Grib // Hoffman E.T.A. Lord of the Fleas: Stories, novel. - M.: EKSMO-Press, 2001. - P. 269-622.
One day, Hoffmann saw that his pupil and favorite tabby cat named Murr was opening his desk drawer with his paw and laying down there to sleep on the manuscripts. Has he really learned to read and write? This is how the idea of this extraordinary book arose, in which the thoughtful reasoning and “heroic” adventures of the cat Murr are interspersed with pages of the biography of his owner, Kapellmeister Kreisler, who is so similar to Hoffmann himself.
The novel, unfortunately, remained unfinished.
THE GOLDEN POT AND OTHER STORIES: Trans. with him. / Afterword D. Chavchanidze; Rice. N. Golts. - M.: Det. lit., 1983. - 366 pp.: ill.
Behind the visible and tangible world there is another, wonderful world, full of beauty and harmony, but it does not open to everyone. This will be confirmed to you by the little knight Nutcracker, and the poor student Anselm, and the mysterious stranger in an embroidered camisole - the gentleman Gluck...
GOLDEN POT; LITTLE TZAHES, NAMED ZINNOBER: Fairy Tales: Trans. with him. / Intro. Art. A. Gugnina; Artist N. Golts. - M.: Det. lit., 2002. - 239 p.: ill. - (School library).
Don't try to unravel the secret of Hoffmann's two most magical, most profound and elusive stories. No matter how you weave a network of social and philosophical theories, the green snakes will still slide into the water of the Elbe and only sparkle with emerald sparks... Read and listen to these fairy tales, like music, following the play of melody, the whims of fantasy, entering enchanted halls, opening the gates of wonderful parks... Just while you're daydreaming, don't trip over some basket of apples. After all, her owner may turn out to be a real witch.
KREYSLERIANA; LIFE VIEWS OF THE CAT MURRA; DIARIES: Per. with him. - M.: Nauka, 1972. - 667 p.: ill. - (Lit. monuments).
KREYSLERIANA; NOVELLS: Trans. with him. - M.: Music, 1990. - 400 p.
"Kreysleriana"
“There is only one angel of light who can overcome the demon of evil. This bright angel is the spirit of music..." Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler utters these words in the novel Murr the Cat, but for the first time this hero appears in Kreislerian, where he expresses Hoffmann’s most sincere and profound thoughts about music and musicians.
"Fermata", "Poet and Composer", "Singing Competition"
In these short stories, Hoffman plays out in different ways the themes that worried him all his life: what creativity is; at what cost is perfection in art achieved?
SANDMAN: Stories: Trans. with him. / Rice. V. Bisengalieva. - M.: Text, 1992. - 271 p.: ill. - (Magic Lantern).
"Ignaz Denner", "Sandman", "Doge and Dogaressa", "Falun Mines"
Evil sorcerers, nameless dark forces and the devil himself are always ready to take possession of a person. Woe to him who trembles before them and lets darkness into his soul!
"Mademoiselle de Scudéry: A Tale from the Time of Louis XIV"
The novella about the mysterious crimes that struck Paris in the 17th century is Hoffmann’s first work translated into Russian and the first detective story in the history of literature.
SANDMAN: [Stories, short stories] / Preface. A. Karelsky. - St. Petersburg: Crystal, 2000. - 912 p.: ill.
"Adventure on New Year's Eve"
“Inconsistent with anything, just God knows what kind of incidents” happen at this time. On an icy, blizzard night, in a small Berlin tavern, a traveler who casts no shadow and a poor artist who, strange to say... is not reflected in the mirror, can meet!
"Lord of the Fleas: A Tale in Seven Adventures of Two Friends"
The kind eccentric Peregrinus Tys, without knowing it, saves the master flea and all the fleas of the ruler. As a reward, he receives a magic glass that allows him to read other people's thoughts.
SERAPION BROTHERS: E.T.A.HOFFMANN. SERAPION BROTHERS; “SERAPION BROTHERS” IN PETROGRAD: Anthology / Comp., preface. and comment. A.A.Gugnina. - M.: Higher. school, 1994. - 736 p.
E.T.A. Hoffmann’s collection “The Serapion Brothers” is published almost in the same form in which it appeared during the life of the author and his friends - writers F. de la Motte Fouquet, A. von Chamisso, lawyer J. Hitzig, doctor and poet D.F. Koreff and others, who named their circle in honor of the clairvoyant hermit Serapion. Their charter stated: freedom of inspiration and imagination and the right of everyone to be themselves.
A hundred years later, in 1921, in Petrograd, young Russian writers united in the Serapion Brotherhood - in honor of Hoffmann and the romantics, in the name of Art and Friendship, in spite of the chaos and war of parties. A collection of works by the new “serapions” Mikhail Zoshchenko, Lev Lunts, Vsevolod Ivanov, Veniamin Kaverin and others is also published in this book for the first time since 1922.
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING: A Christmas Tale / Transl. with him. I. Tatarinova; Il. M. Andrukhina. - Kaliningrad: Blagovest, 1992. - 111 p.: ill. - (The Magic Piggy Bank of Childhood).
“Tick-and-tock, tick-and-tock! Don't wheeze so loudly! The mouse king hears everything... Well, the clock, the old tune! Trick-and-truck, boom-boom!
Let's tiptoe into Councilor Stahlbaum's living room, where Christmas candles are already burning and gifts are laid out on the tables. If you stand to the side and don’t make noise, you will see amazing things...
This fairy tale is almost two hundred years old, but strange! The Nutcracker and little Marie have not aged at all since then, and the Mouse King and his mother Myshilda have not become any kinder.
Margarita Pereslegina
LITERATURE ABOUT THE LIFE AND WORK OF E. T. A. HOFFMANN
Balandin R.K. Hoffman // Balandin R.K. One hundred great geniuses. - M.: Veche, 2004. - P. 452-456.
Berkovsky N.Ya. Hoffman: [On life, the main themes of creativity and Hoffman’s influence on world literature] // Berkovsky N.Ya. Articles and lectures on foreign literature. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2002. - P. 98-122.
Berkovsky N.Ya. Romanticism in Germany. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2001. - 512 p.
From the content: E.T.A.Hoffman.
Belza I. Wonderful genius: [Hoffmann and music] // Hoffmann E.T.A. Kreisleriana; Novels. - M.: Music, 1990. - P. 380-399.
Hesse G. [About Hoffmann] // Hesse G. The magic of the book. - M.: Book, 1990. - P. 59-60.
Goffman E.T.A. Life and creativity: Letters, statements, documents: Trans. with him. / Comp., preface. and after. K.Guntzel. - M.: Raduga, 1987. - 462 p.: ill.
Gugnin A. “Serapion’s brothers” in the context of two centuries // Serapion’s brothers: E.T.A.Hoffman. Serapion brothers; "Serapion's Brothers" in Petrograd: An Anthology. - M.: Higher. school, 1994. - P. 5-40. 
Gugnin A. Fantastic reality of E.T.A.Hoffman // Hoffman E.T.A. Golden pot; Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober. - M.: Det. lit., 2002. - P. 5-22.
Dudova L. Hoffman, Ernst Theodor Amadeus // Foreign writers: Biobibliogr. Dictionary: In 2 hours: Part 1. - M.: Bustard, 2003. - P. 312-321.
Kaverin V. Speech on the centenary of the death of E.T.A.Hoffman // Serapion brothers: E.T.A.Hoffman. Serapion brothers; "Serapion's Brothers" in Petrograd: An Anthology. - M.: Higher. school, 1994. - pp. 684-686.
Karelsky A. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman // Hoffman E.T.A. Collection Op.: In 6 vols. - M.: Khudozh. lit., 1991-2000. - T. 1. - P. 5-26.
Mistler J. The Life of Hoffmann / Trans. from fr. A. Frankovsky. - L.: Academia, 1929. - 231 p.
Piskunova S. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman // Encyclopedia for children: T. 15: World literature: Part 2: XIX and XX centuries. - M.: Avanta+, 2001. - P. 31-38. 
Fümann F. Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober // Meeting: Stories and essays by GDR writers about the era of Sturm and Drang and Romanticism. - M., 1983. - P. 419-434.
Kharitonov M. Fairy tales and the life of Hoffmann: Preface // Hoffman E.T.A. Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober. - Saratov: Privolzhsk. book publishing house, 1984. - pp. 5-16.
The artistic world of E.T.A. Hoffmann: [Sb. articles]. - M.: Nauka, 1982. - 295 p.: ill.
Zweig S. E. T. A. Hoffmann: Preface to the French edition of “Princess Brambilla” // Zweig S. Collection. cit.: In 9 volumes - M.: Bibliosphere, 1997. - T. 9. - P. 400-402.
Shcherbakova I. Drawings by E.T.A. Hoffmann // Panorama of Arts: Vol. 11. - M.: Sov. artist, 1988. - pp. 393-413.
Literary life Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann(Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann) was short: in 1814, the first book of his stories, “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot,” was published, enthusiastically received by the German reading public, and in 1822 the writer, who had long suffered from a serious illness, died. By this time, Hoffmann was no longer read and revered only in Germany; in the 20s and 30s his short stories, fairy tales, and novels were translated in France and England; in 1822, the magazine “Library for Reading” published Hoffmann’s short story “Maiden Scuderi” in Russian. The posthumous fame of this remarkable writer outlived him for a long time, and although there were periods of decline in it (especially in Hoffmann’s homeland, Germany), today, one hundred and sixty years after his death, a wave of interest in Hoffmann has risen again, he has again become one one of the most widely read German authors of the 19th century, his works are published and republished, and the scientific Hoffmannian science is replenished with new works. None of the German romantic writers, including Hoffmann, received such truly global recognition.
Hoffmann's life story is the story of a constant struggle for a piece of bread, for finding oneself in art, for one's dignity as a person and an artist. His works are full of echoes of this struggle.
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, who later changed his third name to Amadeus, in honor of his favorite composer Mozart, was born in 1776 in Konigsberg, into the family of a lawyer. His parents separated when he was in his third year. Hoffmann grew up in his mother's family, under the care of his uncle, Otto Wilhelm Dörfer, also a lawyer. In the Dörfer house, everyone began to play music a little; Hoffmann also began to teach music, for which the cathedral organist Podbelsky was invited. The boy showed extraordinary abilities and soon began composing small musical pieces; He also studied drawing, and also not without success. However, given the obvious inclination of young Hoffmann towards art, the family, where all the men were lawyers, had previously chosen the same profession for him. At school, and then at the university, where Hoffmann entered in 1792, he became friends with Theodor Hippel, the nephew of the then famous humorist writer Theodor Gottlieb Hippel - communication with him did not pass without a trace for Hoffmann. After graduating from university and after a short practice in the court of the city of Glogau (Glogow), Hoffmann goes to Berlin, where he successfully passes the exam for the rank of assessor and is assigned to Poznan. Subsequently, he will prove himself as an excellent musician - composer, conductor, singer, as a talented artist - draftsman and decorator, as an outstanding writer; but he was also a knowledgeable and efficient lawyer. Possessing an enormous capacity for work, this amazing man did not treat any of his activities carelessly and did nothing half-heartedly. In 1802, a scandal broke out in Poznan: Hoffmann drew a caricature of a Prussian general, a rude martinet who despised civilians; he complained to the king. Hoffmann was transferred, or rather exiled, to Plock, a small Polish town, which in 1793 went to Prussia. Shortly before leaving, he married Michalina Trzcinska-Rorer, who was to share with him all the hardships of his unsettled, wandering life. The monotonous existence in Plock, a remote province far from art, depresses Hoffmann. He writes in his diary: “The muse disappeared. Archival dust obscures any future prospects for me.” And yet, the years spent in Plock were not lost in vain: Hoffmann reads a lot - his cousin sends him magazines and books from Berlin; Wigleb’s book, “Teaching Natural Magic and All sorts of Entertaining and Useful Tricks”, which was popular in those years, falls into his hands, from which he will draw some ideas for his future stories; His first literary experiments date back to this time.
In 1804, Hoffmann managed to transfer to Warsaw. Here he devotes all his leisure time to music, gets closer to the theater, achieves the production of several of his musical and stage works, and paints the concert hall with frescoes. The Warsaw period of Hoffmann's life dates back to the beginning of his friendship with Julius Eduard Hitzig, a lawyer and literature lover. Hitzig, Hoffmann's future biographer, introduces him to the works of the romantics and their aesthetic theories. On November 28, 1806, Warsaw is occupied by Napoleonic troops, the Prussian administration is dissolved - Hoffmann is free and can devote himself to art, but is deprived of his livelihood. He is forced to send his wife and one-year-old daughter to Poznan, to his relatives, because he has nothing to support them. He himself goes to Berlin, but even there he survives only with odd jobs until he receives an offer to take the place of conductor at the Bamberg Theater.
The years spent by Hoffmann in the ancient Bavarian city of Bamberg (1808 - 1813) were the heyday of his musical, creative and musical-pedagogical activities. At this time, his collaboration with the Leipzig General Musical Newspaper began, where he published articles about music and published his first “musical novel” “Cavalier Gluck” (1809). His stay in Bamberg was marked by one of Hoffmann's deepest and most tragic experiences - his hopeless love for his young student Julia Mark. Julia was pretty, artistic and had a charming voice. In the images of singers that Hoffmann would later create, her features will be visible. The prudent consul Mark married her daughter to a wealthy Hamburg businessman. Julia's marriage and her departure from Bamberg were a heavy blow for Hoffmann. A few years later he would write the novel “Elixirs of the Devil”; the scene where the sinful monk Medard unexpectedly witnesses the tonsure of his passionately beloved Aurelia, the description of his torment at the thought that his beloved is being separated from him forever, will remain one of the most heartfelt and tragic pages of world literature. In the difficult days of parting with Julia, the short story “Don Juan” came from the pen of Hoffmann. The image of the “mad musician”, bandmaster and composer Johannes Kreisler, the second “I” of Hoffmann himself, the confidant of his most dear thoughts and feelings - the image that would accompany Hoffmann throughout his literary career, was also born in Bamberg, where Hoffmann learned everything the bitterness of the fate of an artist forced to serve the clan and money nobility. He conceives a book of short stories, “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot,” which the Bamberg wine and bookseller Kunz volunteered to publish. An extraordinary draftsman himself, Hoffmann highly appreciated the caustic and elegant drawings - “capriccios” of the 17th century French graphic artist Jacques Callot, and since his own stories were also very caustic and whimsical, he was attracted by the idea of comparing them to the creations of the French master.
The next stations on Hoffmann's life path are Dresden, Leipzig and again Berlin. He accepts the offer of the impresario of the Seconda Opera House, whose troupe played alternately in Leipzig and Dresden, to take the place of conductor, and in the spring of 1813 he leaves Bamberg. Now Hoffman devotes more and more energy and time to literature. In a letter to Kunz dated August 19, 1813, he writes: “It is not surprising that in our gloomy, unfortunate time, when a person barely survives from day to day and still has to rejoice in this, writing captivated me so much - it seems to me that something has opened up before me.” a wonderful kingdom that is born from my inner world and, taking on flesh, separates me from the external world.”
In the external world that closely surrounded Hoffmann, war was still raging at that time: the remnants of the Napoleonic army defeated in Russia fought fiercely in Saxony. “Hoffmann witnessed the bloody battles on the banks of the Elbe and the siege of Dresden. He leaves for Leipzig and, trying to get rid of difficult impressions, writes “The Golden Pot - a fairy tale from new times.” Working with Seconda did not go smoothly; one day Hoffmann quarreled with him during a performance and was refused the place. He asks Hippel, who has become a major Prussian official, to get him a position in the Ministry of Justice and in the fall of 1814 he moves to Berlin. Hoffmann spent the last years of his life in the Prussian capital, which were unusually fruitful for his literary work. Here he formed a circle of friends and like-minded people, among them writers - Friedrich de la Motte Fouquet, Adelbert Chamisso, actor Ludwig Devrient. His books were published one after another: the novel “Elixirs of the Devil” (1816), the collection “Night Stories” (1817), the fairy tale “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober” (1819), “Serapion’s Brothers” - a cycle of stories combined, like Boccaccio’s “Decameron”, with a plot frame (1819 - 1821), the unfinished novel “The worldly views of the cat Murr, coupled with fragments of the biography of the bandmaster Johannes Kreisler, which accidentally survived in waste paper sheets” (1819 - 1821), the fairy tale “The Lord of the Fleas” (1822 )
The political reaction that reigned in Europe after 1814 darkened the last years of the writer’s life. Appointed to a special commission investigating the cases of so-called demagogues - students involved in political unrest and other opposition-minded individuals, Hoffman could not come to terms with the “brazen violation of laws” that took place during the investigation. He had a clash with police director Kampets, and he was removed from the commission. Hoffmann settled accounts with Kamptz in his own way: he immortalized him in the story “The Lord of the Fleas” in the caricature of Privy Councilor Knarrpanti. Having learned in what form Hoffman portrayed him, Kampts tried to prevent the publication of the story. Moreover: Hoffmann was brought to trial for insulting a commission appointed by the king. Only a doctor's certificate, certifying that Hoffman was seriously ill, suspended further persecution.
Hoffmann was indeed seriously ill. Damage to the spinal cord led to rapidly developing paralysis. In one of the last stories - “The Corner Window” - in the person of his cousin, “who has lost the use of his legs” and can only observe life through the window, Hoffmann described himself. On June 24, 1822 he died.
(German) Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann) - the largest representative of German romanticism.
Even in his youth, he was captivated by reading Shakespeare (translated by A. V. Schlegel), and knew many phrases by heart. It is known, for example, that among Hoffmann’s favorite works was W. Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It.” Intensive reading of Shakespeare occurred in 1795. It is interesting that this was also a period of equally intense acquaintance with the works of J. J. Rousseau, L. Stern, with the novel “Genius” (1791-1795) just published and causing a lot of noise by the German pre-romanticist Karl Grosse (1768-1847), presented in the form of a hoax - as the memoirs of a certain Spanish marquis, whose adventurism carries him around the world, plunging him into the networks of a secret brotherhood who decided to establish a new world order (the novel influenced M. Shelley, and Jane Austen rightly saw in It has similarities with the Gothic novels of the pre-Romantic writer E. Radcliffe - “The Mysteries of Udolf” and “The Italian”). This framing of Shakespeare in the circle of authors, simultaneously with his work being read by Hoffmann, could not but affect the “image of Shakespeare” in the cultural thesaurus of the German romantic.
In Hoffmann's works there are features of Shakespeareanization, primarily in the form of quoting tragedies and comedies, mentioning characters, etc. But it is noteworthy that Hoffmann's Shakespeareanization is often ironic, comic in nature.
The most striking example is Shakespearean reminiscences (quite in the spirit of German romantic Shakespeareanization) in Hoffmann’s novel “The Everyday Views of Murr the Cat,” which constitutes both the peak and the result of the great writer’s work. The novel mentions the elf Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Prospero and Ariel from The Tempest, Celia and Touchstone from the comedy As You Like It (a quote from this work is given: “... sighing like a furnace”, mentioned Touchstone's monologue about seven ways to refute a lie), words from Juliet's monologue are freely quoted (Romeo and Juliet, IV, 3). Most often, the text is correlated with “Hamlet”: in addition to the mention of Horatio, the novel contains several quotes from Shakespeare’s tragedy, but almost all of them are paraphrased, as they are put into the mouth of the cat Murr: “O appetite, your name is Cat!” — Hamlet’s words are paraphrased: “O inconstancy, thy name is woman!”; “...the stick raised to strike, as they say in the famous tragedy, seemed to freeze in the air...” says the cat Murr, referring the reader to “Hamlet” (II, 2); “O army of heaven! Earth!..” - Murr speaks in the words of Hamlet after meeting with the Ghost of his father (I, 3); “...where are your happy jumps now? Where is your playfulness, your cheerfulness, your clear joyful “meow” that cheered all hearts?” — a parody of Hamlet’s monologue over Yorick’s skull (V, 1): “Where are your jokes now? Your songs? Your outbursts of merriment that made the whole table laugh every time?” etc. So, the bearer of Shakespeareanization in the novel becomes the cat Murr, embodying not the romantic world of Kreisleriana, but the world of philistines. This anti-Shakespearean orientation of Shakespeareanization makes us recall the anti-Shakespeareanism of the English romantic Byron.
A cultural paradox arises: if it is obvious that the cult of Shakespeare and Shakespeareanization are connected in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. with the pre-romantics and romantics, then anti-Shakespeareanism is also connected with romanticism, and, as the case of Byron shows, with English romanticism, and as the case with Hoffmann shows, with German romanticism.
This makes us take a closer look at the personality and stages of the work of the great German writer.
The beginning of a creative journey. Hoffmann in his biography embodies the contradictions of a romantic personality forced to live in a philistine world alien to her. He was naturally gifted with genius. His greatest passion was music; it was no coincidence that he replaced his third name, Wilhelm, given to him by his parents, with the middle name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Hoffmann wrote the first German romantic opera, Ondine (1814, post. 1816). He was a wonderful artist and a great writer. But Hoffmann was born in prim and boring Königsberg into an bureaucratic family, studied at the university's law faculty there, and then was in the civil service in various cities, performing bureaucratic functions. The French invasion, which found Hoffmann in Warsaw (1806), deprived him of work and income. Hoffmann decides to devote himself to art, serves as a conductor, gives music lessons, and writes music reviews. After the defeat of Napoleon, Hoffmann was again in public service in Berlin in 1814.
Kreisler image. This romantic character, passing from work to work, closest to the author, his alter ego, first appears in the essay-novel “The Musical Sufferings of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler” (1810), one of Hoffmann’s first literary works. The author plays a game with the reader, coming up with unexpected compositional moves. The text is supposedly notes from the musician Kreisler on the publication of the sheet music of J. S. Bach's variations. He takes notes about the past evening in the house of Privy Councilor Roederlein, where he is forced to accompany the councilor's untalented daughters Nanette and Marie. Hoffmann resorts to irony: “... Fraulein Nanette has achieved something: she is able to sing a melody heard only ten times in the theater and then repeated no more than ten times on the piano in such a way that one can immediately guess what it is.” Then an even greater test for Kreisler: Councilor Eberstein sings. Then the guests begin to sing in chorus - and a game of cards takes place nearby. Hoffmann conveys this episode in the text: “I loved - forty-eight - carefree - pass - I didn’t know - whist - the torment of love - trump card.” Kreisler is asked to play fantasies, and he plays 30 Bach variations, becoming more and more carried away by the brilliant music and not noticing how all the guests are running away, only the sixteen-year-old footman Gottlieb is listening to him. In the essay, Hoffmann’s characteristic division of people into musicians (creative natures who have access to an ideal) and non-musicians (“just good people”) - ordinary people, philistines - appears in the essay. Already in this short story, Hoffmann uses a technique characteristic of his subsequent work: showing events from two (opposite) points of view: Kreisler sees the guests who play music as ordinary people, while they see Kreisler as a boring eccentric.
In 1814, the first volume of the collection “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” was published, in which, in addition to short stories (“Cavalier Gluck”, “Don Juan”), Hoffmann included the “Kreisleriana” cycle, consisting of six essays-short stories, in the fourth volume ( 1815) seven more works of this cycle appear (in 1819, Hoffmann republished the collection, grouping its material into two volumes, the second half of “Kreisleriana” was included in the second volume). Romantic essays-short stories (including “Musical Suffering...” included in the cycle) are here side by side with satirical essays (“The Perfect Machinist”), music-critical notes (“Extremely Incoherent Thoughts”), etc. Kreisler acts as a lyrical hero, largely autobiographical, it is often impossible to distinguish him from the author. Those around him believe that he has gone crazy (as reported in the preface, which talks about his disappearance).
Hoffman masters the entire spectrum of comedy from humor, irony to sarcasm. He combines the comic with the grotesque, of which he was an unsurpassed master. Thus, in the short story “Information about an educated young man” we read: “It touches your heart when you see how widely our culture is spreading.” A completely educational phrase, the comic effect is due to the fact that it is found in a letter from Milo, an educated monkey, to his friend, the monkey Pipi, living in North America. Milo learned to speak, write, play the piano, and now he is no different from people.
The short story “The Enemy of Music” is even more indicative of Hoffmann’s romanticism. The hero of the story, a young man, is truly talented, understands music - and that is why he is known as the “enemy of music.” There are jokes about him. While performing a mediocre opera, a neighbor said to him: “What a wonderful place!” “Yes, the place is good, although it’s a little drafty,” he replied. The young man highly appreciates the music of Kreisler, who lives nearby, who is “sufficiently celebrated for his eccentricities.” The technique of contrasting two points of view on the same facts is again used.
"Golden Pot". In the third volume of Fantasies (1814), Hoffmann included the fairy tale “The Golden Pot,” which he considered his best work. Romantic dual worlds appear in the work as a combination of two narrative planes - real and fantastic, while supernatural forces enter into battle for the soul of the hero, student Anselm, good (the spirit of the Salamanders, in everyday life the archivist Lindgorst) and evil (the witch, also known as the old woman). apple seller and fortune teller Frau Rauerin). The student leaves the cheerful Veronica and unites with the green snake - the beautiful daughter of Salamander Serpentina, receiving from the sorcerer the Golden Pot (this is a symbol similar to the blue flower of Novalis: at the moment of betrothal, Anselm must see how a fiery lily sprouts from the pot, must understand its language and know everything , which is revealed to disembodied spirits). Anselm disappears from Dresden; apparently, he found his happiness in Atlantis, uniting with Serpentina. Veronica found comfort in her marriage to court councilor Geerbrand. Hoffmann's grotesque and irony in the fairy tale extend to the description of both worlds, real and fantastic, and to all the characters. One of the consequences of the development of folk fairy-tale permeability of space by a romantic writer is the ability of heroes to simultaneously be in both worlds, performing different actions (for example, Anselm is simultaneously imprisoned by Salamander in a glass jar for temporarily preferring Veronica to Serpentine and stands on the bridge, looking at his reflection in the river) . This is a kind of technique that is the opposite of duality and complements it. And again the contrast of two points of view is used. A typical example: Anselm hugs an elder tree (in his dreams it is Serpentina), and those passing by think that he has gone crazy. But Anselm himself thinks that he just scattered the apples of the old merchant, and she sees in them her children, whom he mercilessly tramples. This is how a whole system of doubling techniques arises, conveying the idea of romantic dual worlds.
Other works. Among Hoffmann’s works are the novel “The Devil’s Elixirs” (1815-1816), the fairy tales “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober” (1819), “The Lord of the Fleas” (1822), and the collections “Night Stories” (vol. 1-2, 1817 ), “The Serapion Brothers” (vols. 1-4, 1819-1821), “The Last Stories” (op. 1825), which became especially famous thanks to the ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1892) fairy tale “The Nutcracker, or the Mouse King”.
“Everyday views of the cat Murr.” Hoffmann’s last, unfinished novel, “The Everyday Views of Murr the Cat, Together with Fragments of the Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, That Accidentally Survived in Waste Paper” (1820-1822) is the result of Hoffmann’s writing activity, one of his most profound creations. The composition of the novel is so original that it is difficult to find even a remote analogue of it in all previous literature. In the “Publisher's Preface,” the author plays a game with the reader by presenting the novel as a manuscript written by a cat. Since the manuscript was prepared for printing extremely carelessly, it contains fragments of another manuscript, the sheets from which the cat used “partly for lining, partly for drying the pages.” This second manuscript (fragments of the biography of the brilliant musician Johannes Kreisler) wedges itself into the text of the “non-musician” cat Murr, creating a counterpoint, reflecting the separation of ideal and reality. Thus, Hoffmann uses montage in literature, and in that variety, which was discovered for cinema in 1917 by director L.V. Kuleshov (to a certain extent by accident) and which was called the “Kuleshov effect” (fragments of two films with completely different , unrelated plots, being glued alternately, create a new story in which they are connected due to spectator associations). The publisher also cites the noted typos (instead of “glory” one should read “tear”, instead of “rat” - “roofs”, instead of “feel” - “honor”, instead of “ruined” - “beloved”, instead of “flies” - “spirits”) ”, instead of “meaningless” - “profound”, instead of “value” - “laziness”, etc.). This humorous remark actually has a deep meaning: Hoffmann, almost a century earlier than S. Freud with his “Psychopathology of Everyday Life,” emphasizes that typos are not accidental, they unconsciously reveal the true content of a person’s thoughts.
The game with the reader continues: after the “Introduction by the Author,” where the cat Murr modestly asks readers for leniency towards the aspiring writer, there is an “Foreword by the Author (not intended for publication)”: “With the confidence and calm characteristic of a true genius, I convey to the world my biography , so that everyone can see in what ways cats achieve greatness, so that everyone will know what my perfections are, love, appreciate me, admire me and even revere me,” Murr informs about his true intentions and threatens to introduce the reader who doubts his merits to his claws. What follows are interspersed two stories: the cat Murr (about the birth, rescue by maestro Abraham, adventures, learning to read and write, a visit to the high society of dogs, where he is, however, despised, finding a new owner in the person of Kreisler) and Johannes Kreisler, presented only in fragments ( about the confrontation between a musician in love with Julia, the daughter of Prince Irenaeus’s former mistress, advisor Benson, and the princely court, which destroys his happiness and brings him to the brink of despair). The afterword reports the death of Murr's cat; Kreisler's story remains unfinished.
"Corner window" Hoffmann's latest novella, The Corner Window, exemplifies his approach to creativity. The “poor cousin,” who cannot move, sits by the window and, based on what he sees, makes up stories, and one fact can give rise to two completely different interpretations. This affirmation of absolute freedom of fantasy in the face of real lack of freedom is the key to Hoffmann’s creative method.
Lit.: Berkovsky N. L. Romanticism in Germany. L.: Khud. Lit-ra, 1973; Karelsky A. V. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman // Hoffman E. T. A. Collection. op. : In 6 volumes. T. 1. M.: Khud. Lit-ra, 1991; Lukov Vl. A. History of literature: Foreign literature from its origins to the present day / 6th ed. M.: Academy, 2009.
Option 1
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is an outstanding German writer, composer and artist, representative of romanticism. Born on January 24, 1776 in Konigsberg in the family of a Prussian lawyer. When he was only three, his parents divorced and he spent most of his childhood in his grandmother's house. His maternal uncle, a lawyer, was mainly involved in raising the boy. He was the smartest man with a rich imagination. Hoffmann early began to show an inclination towards music and drawing, but chose a career as a lawyer. Throughout his subsequent life, he combined jurisprudence with the arts.
In 1800, he brilliantly graduated from the University of Königsberg and entered the public service. All attempts to make money through art led to impoverishment. The writer's financial situation improved only after receiving a small inheritance in 1813. For some time he worked as a theater conductor in Bamberg, and then as an orchestra conductor in Leipzig and Dresden. In 1816 he returned to public service, becoming a judicial officer in Berlin. He remained in this post until his death.
He considered his work to be hateful, so in his free time he began to engage in literary activities. In the evenings, he locked himself in a wine cellar and wrote horror stories that came to mind, which later turned into fantastic stories and fairy tales. The collection of stories “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814-1815) was especially popular. After this book, he begins to be invited to various literary salons. Then “Night Stories” (1817), “Serapion’s Brothers” (1819-1820) came out. In 1821, Hoffmann began working on “The Everyday Views of Murr the Cat.” This is partly autobiographical work, full of wisdom and wit.
One of the writer’s most famous works was the fairy tale “The Golden Pot”. Of the musical compositions, the opera Ondine was especially popular. Initially, German critics were unable to properly appreciate Hoffmann's talent, while in other countries his works enjoyed great success. However, over time, he gained a reputation as a talented musician and literary critic. Subsequently, his work influenced the work of Edgar Allan Poe and several French writers. Hoffmann's life and works formed the basis of J. Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann." The writer died on June 24, 1822 as a result of paralysis.
Option 2
German writer and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was born in Königsberg on January 24, 1776. Soon the boy’s parents divorced, and his uncle took up raising the child, under whose influence the young Hoffman entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Konigsberg.
While studying at this institution, Hoffmann's first novels were written. After graduating from university, the writer worked in Poznan as an assessor, but then was transferred to Polotsk, where he married and settled down.
Soon Hoffmann left the civil service, hoping to devote himself to art. In 1803, the writer’s first essay, “A Letter from a Monk to his Capital Friend,” was published, and later several operas were written, which Hoffmann tried to stage on stage to no avail.
At this time, Hoffmann worked as a composer and conductor in Dresden. This money was barely enough for the young family to make ends meet.
Having lost his position as bandmaster, in 1815 Hoffmann was forced to return to civil service, but in Berlin. This occupation brought income, but made the writer dissatisfied with life. The only salvation for him was wine and creativity.
In 1815, Hoffmann completed the story “The Golden Pot” and wrote the opera “Ondine”. At the same time, two volumes of the writer’s first published book, “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot,” were published. Since then, Hoffmann has become a popular writer, and his Ondine is staged at the National Theater.
Having become seriously ill, Hoffmann soon died in Berlin from paralysis on June 24, 1822. Before his death, he manages to dictate his last works: “Lord of the Fleas”, “Corner Window” and “Enemy”.
