Hugo von Hofmannsthal | |
|---|---|
 Photograph byNicola Perscheid, 1910 | |
| Born | (1874-02-01)1 February 1874 Landstraße, Vienna,Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 15 July 1929(1929-07-15) (aged 55) Rodaun,Liesing, Austria |
| Occupation | |
| Language | German |
| Citizenship | Austria |
| Education | Akademisches Gymnasium |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Literary movement | Symbolism |
| Spouse | Gertrud Schlesinger |
| Children | Christiane, Franz,Raimund |
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (German:[ˈhuːɡofɔnˈhoːfmanstaːl]ⓘ; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was anAustriannovelist,librettist,poet,dramatist, narrator, andessayist.
Hofmannsthal was born inLandstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class Christian Austrian mother, Anna Maria Josefa Fohleutner (1852–1904), and a Christian Austrian–Italian bank manager, Hugo August Peter Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal (1841–1915).[2]
His grandfather wasAugustin Emil Hofmann von Hofmannsthal and his great-grandfather wasIsaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal, from whom his family inherited the noble title "Edler von Hofmannsthal", was a Jewish tobacco farmer ennobled by the Austrian emperor.[3]
He was schooled in Vienna atAkademisches Gymnasium, where he studied the works ofOvid, later a major influence on his work.[4] He began to write poems and plays from an early age. Some of his early works were written under pseudonyms, such asLoris Melikow andTheophil Morren, because he was not allowed to publish as a student. He met the German poetStefan George at the age of seventeen and had several poems published in George's journal,Blätter für die Kunst. He studiedlaw and laterphilology at theUniversity of Vienna but decided to devote himself to writing upon graduating in 1901. Along withPeter Altenberg andArthur Schnitzler, he was a member of theavant garde groupYoung Vienna (Jung–Wien).[5]
In 1900 Hofmannsthal met thecomposerRichard Strauss for the first time. He later wrotelibretti for several of hisoperas, includingElektra (1909),Der Rosenkavalier (1911), the plot of which he developed together withHarry Graf Kessler,Ariadne auf Naxos (1912, rev. 1916),Die Frau ohne Schatten (1919),Die ägyptische Helena (1928), andArabella (1929, but first performed in 1933).[6]
Between 1891 and 1899 Hofmannsthal wrote a number of short verse plays, influenced by the static dramas of the Belgian writerMaurice Maeterlinck, the dramatic monologues of the English Romantic poetRobert Browning, and theproverbes dramatiques of the French poetAlfred de Musset.[7]
In 1911 he adapted the 15th century Englishmorality playEveryman asJedermann, and Einar Nilson wrote the music for it. The play later became a staple at theSalzburg Festival.[6]
During World War I Hofmannsthal held a government post.[2] He wrote speeches and articles supporting the war effort, and emphasizing the cultural tradition ofAustria-Hungary. The end of the war spelled the end of theHabsburg monarchy in Austria; this was a blow from which the patriotic and conservative-minded Hofmannsthal never fully recovered.[8]
Nevertheless, the years after the war were very productive ones for Hofmannsthal; he continued with his earlier literary projects, almost without a break. He wrote several new libretti for Richard Strauss operas. In 1920, Hofmannsthal, along withMax Reinhardt, founded the Salzburg Festival.[9] His later plays revealed a growing interest inreligious, particularlyRoman Catholic, themes. Among his writings was a screenplay fora film version ofDer Rosenkavalier (1925) directed byRobert Wiene.[10]
On 18 October 1902 Hofmannsthal published a fictive letter in the Berlin Daily,Der Tag (The Day) titled simply"Ein Brief" ("A Letter"). It was purportedly written in 1603 by Philip, Lord Chandos, toFrancis Bacon. In this letter Chandos says that he has stopped writing because he has "lost completely the ability to think or to speak of anything coherently"; he has given up on the possibility of language to describe the world. This letter reflects the growing distrust of and dissatisfaction with language that so characterizes the Modern era, and Chandos's dissolving personality is not only individual but societal.[11]
Growing up the son of a wealthy merchant who was well connected with the major artists of the time, Hofmannsthal was raised in whatCarl Schorske refers to as "the temple of art". This perfect setting for aesthetic isolation allowed Hofmannsthal the unique perspective of the privileged artist, but also allowed him to see that art had become a flattened documenting of humanity, which took our instincts and desires and framed them for viewing without acquiring any of the living, passionate elements. Because of this realization, Hofmannsthal's idea of the role of the artist began to take shape as someone who created works that would inspire or inflame the instinct, rather than merely preserving it in a creative form. He also began to think that the artist should not be someone isolated and left to his art, but rather a man of the world, immersed in both politics and art.[12]
Hofmannsthal saw in English culture the ideal setting for the artist. This was because the English simultaneously admiredAdmiral Nelson, a war hero, andJohn Milton, a poet, while still maintaining a solid national identity. "In [Hofmannsthal's] view, the division between artist (writer) and man of action (politician, explorer, soldier) does not exist in England. Britain provides her subjects with a common base of energy which functions as equilibrium, a force lacking in fragmented Germany" (Weiss). This singular and yet pragmatic identity must have appealed to Hofmannsthal to a certain degree due to the large scale fragmentation of Austria at the time, which was witnessing the birth of radical nationalism and anti-Semitism, a nation in which the progressive artist and the progressive politician were growing more different and hostile to each other by the day.[13][14]
The Austrian authorStefan Zweig wrote in his memoirsThe World of Yesterday (1942) on Hofmannsthal's early accomplishments and their influence on Zweig's generation:
The appearance of the young Hofmannsthal is and remains notable as one of the greatest miracles of accomplishment early in life; in world literature, except forKeats andRimbaud, I know no other youthful example of a similar impeccability in the mastering of language, no such breadth of spiritual buoyancy, nothing more permeated with poetic substance even in the most casual lines, than in this magnificent genius, who already in his sixteenth and seventeenth year had inscribed himself in the eternal annals of the German language with unextinguishable verses and prose which today has still not been surpassed. His sudden beginning and simultaneous completion was a phenomenon that hardly occurs more than once in a generation.
— Stefan Zweig,Die Welt von Gestern, Frankfurt am Main 1986, 63–64
In 1901 he married Gertrud "Gerty" Schlesinger, the daughter of a Viennese Jewish banker.[15] Gerty converted to Christianity before their marriage, and they settled inRodaun (now part ofLiesing), not far fromVienna, and had three children:
Two days after his elder son Franz committed suicide, Hugo himself died of a stroke while dressing for the funeral at Rodaun.[20] He was buried wearing the habit of aFranciscan tertiary, as he had requested.[6] His widow, who acquiredSchloss Prielau in 1932, died in London in 1959.[15]
Plays
Libretti
Narrations and fictitious conversations
Novel (fragment)
Essays, speeches, prose
Poetry
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Selected Poems: Rhymed and metered translation by Claude Neuman, with the original text opposite. Ressouvenances Editions, 2025http://www.ressouvenances.fr/
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