Josef Hofmann

Elizabeth Carr was previously director of the Cape Cod Conservatory in Massachusetts and is now an arts and education consultant. She is the author of Shura Cherkassky: The Piano's Last Czar and has written articles for Clavier, American Music Teacher,and PianoTime. She is the recipient of the President’s Award from the National Guild of Community Music Schools. She has also chaired committees for the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, was a longtime judge for National Piano Guild auditions, and served as a trustee of the Newport Music Festival.

Josef Hofmann was a pianist (and composer, teacher, and inventor) of supreme importance in the first half of the twentieth century who has not, until now, been the subject of a biography—a long overdue omission for the pianist Rachmaninov most admired. This book takes us through Hofmann’s fascinating life in the context of the enormous changes taking place in society and in the world of classical music during the first half of the twentieth century.

• Chapter One: PRODIGY1876-1888Chapter Two: HOFMANN AND RUBINSTEINSTUDENT AND MASTER1892-1894Chapter Three: PIANISTChapter Four: COMPOSER1882-1923Chapter Five: THE CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC 1925Chapter Six: TEACHER1925-1938Chapter Seven: TEACHINGChapter Eight: DIRECTORChapter Nine: CAREER RESUMED 1933 - THE GOLDEN JUBILEE 1937Chapter Ten: DISINTEGRATION1939-1946Chapter Eleven: PERFORMERChapter Twelve: STEINWAY ARTIST1901-1957Chapter: Thirteen RECORDING ARTISTChapter Fourteen: INVENTOR Chapter Fifteen: MORE THAN A PIANISTJosef Hofmann, Husband and FatherChapter Sixteen: CODA Chapter Seventeen: JOSEF HOFMANN, THE PIANO’S FORGOTTEN GIANT