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Franz Anton Hoffmeister
May 12, 1754 - February 9, 1812
composed during the Classical period
Biography
Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a music publisher and a very prolific composer. A potential for confusion arises from the fact that in his time there was another publisher named Friedrich Hofmeister, and that this younger man for a time worked for Hoffmeister.

Hoffmeister studied law in Vienna. He did well enough at law school to pass his examinations and qualify to practice, however, he chose a career in music. He decided to self-publish his works. On January 24, 1784, he ran an advertisement in the Wiener Zeitung announcing a series of his own works, plus compositions by Haydn, Mozart, Vanhal, and several others. The firm was successful enough for several years, though there were times when Hoffmeister neglected it to do his own composing. This started a period of decline for the firm, and Hoffmeister sold off some of his catalog to the established firm of Artaria. There are examples of works that were still in production with Hoffmeister when sold to Artaria, where the identity of the music's engraver (and hence the visual appearance of the music) changes suddenly in mid-composition. Productivity of the firm continued to decline. With the year 1800 approaching and the business faltering, Hoffmeister started to plan a major concert tour.
Selected Discography
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