Andreas Hofer

Who was Andreas Hofer?

Andreas Hofer was a German composer of the Baroque period.

Hofer was born at Reichenhall. He was a contemporary of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, whose predecessor he was in Salzburg in his office of Inspector and Hofkapellmeister, i.e., director of the court orchestra. Like Biber, Hofer was noted for his large-scale polychoral sacred works. It has been suggested that Hofer was the composer of the famous Missa Salisburgensis à 53 voci, which earlier had been attributed to Orazio Benevoli, although it is now accepted that it was the work of Biber.

Hofer died at Salzburg. His compositions contain significant roles for instruments like the cornetto, trombone or sackbut and trumpet. Little of his music has been performed or recorded in recent times; several scores, however, have been made available.