E.T.A. Hoffmann

Hoffmann studied law and concurrently learned the organ with Podbielski. Between 1798 and 1799 he began his first compositions when studying with Reichardt. In 1804 he was able to have some of his works performed in Warsaw. When a civil servant, he yielded to the muse of music becoming a theatre conductor in Bamberg (1808) and the conductor of Skedona's troupe in Dresden (1813-14). By 1815 Hoffmann had re-entered the civil service in Berlin after composing several operas between 1801 and 1816. Hoffmann discovered that he had greater success at writing stories and reviews than ...