Gerard Hoffnung was born in Berlin in
1925 and went to London in
1939 as a schoolboy refugee. Although he died at the early age of 34 years, he achieved in his short life enough to fill a whole series of lifetimes. Artist, teacher, cartoonist, caricaturist, musician and tuba player, broadcaster and raconteur, a much sought after speaker at the
Oxford and
Cambridge Unions and prison visitor, a
Quaker - these were all facets of a creative personality.
Hoffnung published a series of books depicting conductors and orchestral instrumentalists. However, he is probably most remembered for his two Music Festivals held at the Festival Hall[?] in London. Both these featured humourous musical works commissioned especially for the event and written by the then contemporary composers of the day.
There is a Gerard Hoffnung Website at
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/hoffnung/index.htm