The Hoffman Book

Presented by Susan Watts. Edited by Ilana Cravitz, Dr Hankus Netsky and Dr Hannah Ochner

The Hoffman Book is a remarkable collection of 160 melodies assembled in 1927 by Jewish musician Joseph Hoffman (1869-1939) for his children. Passed down through four generations of the musical dynasty he founded, the folio contains melodies Hoffman brought from Podolia in Ukraine to Philadelphia when he immigrated in 1905, some of his own compositions, as well as tunes and compositions collected from fellow musicians in the United States.

Published here for the first time, the new edition also includes tunes by Hoffman’s great granddaughter, klezmer trumpeter Susan Watts, poetry by Joseph Hoffman, and an introduction by Dr. Hankus Netsky.

this book is available in two versions: one for instruments in C, the other in B flat. The melodies are accompanied by chords for eventual harmonization.

Order The Hoffman Book

Share:

You may also like

Michel Heymann and the Ashkenazi liturgy of the Rhine Valley

In the “Life courses” series, Michel Heymann, one of the last representatives of Ashkenazi liturgy in the Rhine Valley, recounts…

Michel Heymann Collection

This important archive, donated by the Luxembourg cantor Michel Heymann, consists of several hundred scores, audio and video recordings, and…

Arnold Schoenberg, un musicien juif dans le monde

In the book Musiques, mondialisation et sociétés, published in 2024 by the Presses universitaires de Rouen et du Havre, the…

Farewell to the Homeland Poyln & FleytMusik in Kontsert

In July 2023, American flutist Adrianne Greenbaum presented the IEMJ with two of her CDs - Farewell to the Homeland…