X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Gerard Hoffnung


Subcontrabass tuba

Later, in the 1950s, British musician Gerard Hoffnung commissioned the London subcontrabass tuba for use in his comedic music festivals, and also commissioned a work: Variations on "Annie Laurie" (1956) by Gordon Jacob, specifically including the instrument.

The Famous Tay Whale

The premiere performance of this work – scored for orchestra, foghorn, espresso coffee machine and narrator – took place at the second of Gerard Hoffnung's music festivals, with Edith Evans in the role of the narrator.


Mátyás Seiber

His output includes Ulysses (1947), a cantata on words by James Joyce and a clarinet concertino; scores to animated films, including Animal Farm (1954); a setting of the Scottish "poet and tragedian" William McGonagall's work, The Famous Tay Whale (written for the second of Gerard Hoffnung's music festivals); three string quartets; and choral arrangements of Hungarian and Yugoslav folk songs.


see also