Nightscapes Magdalena Hoffmann

• Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936): 6 Pieces for Piano, P. 44:
• 1 Respighi: 6 Pieces for Piano, P. 44: No. 3. Notturno. Lento (Version for Harp) 05:00
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Valse in E Minor, KK IVa, No. 15:
• 2 Chopin: Valse in A Minor, KK IVb, No. 11 (B. 150) (Version for Harp in A Flat Minor) 02:23
• Valse in E Minor, KK IVa, No. 15:
• 3 Chopin: Valse in E Minor, KK IVa, No. 15 (B. 56) (Version for Harp in E Flat Minor) 03:32
• John Field (1782 - 1837): Nocturne in B Flat Major, H. 37:
• 4 Field: Nocturne in B Flat Major, H. 37 (Version for Harp) 03:02
• Nocturne in G Major, H. 58:
• 5 Field: Nocturne in G Major, H. 58 (Version for Harp) 02:15
• Henriette Renie (1875 - 1956): Danse des Lutins:
• 6 Renié: Danse des Lutins 03:37
• Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896): Soirées musicales, Op. 6:
• 7 C. Schumann: Soirées musicales, Op. 6: II. Notturno. Andante con moto (Version for Harp) 05:23
• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Suite for Harp, Op. 83:
• 8 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: I. Overture. Majestic 03:06
• 9 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: II. Toccata. Fast and gay 01:34
• 10 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: III. Nocturne. Slow and quiet 02:59
• 11 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: IV. Fugue. Lively 01:20
• 12 Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83: V. Hymn. Slow and solemn 05:26
• Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880 - 1968): Sogno (Version for Harp):
• 13 Pizzetti: Sogno (Version for Harp) 04:30
• Marcel Tournier (1879 - 1951): Images, Suite No. 4, Op. 39:
• 14 Tournier: Images, Suite No. 4, Op. 39: XII. La danse du Moujik 04:59
• Frédéric Chopin: Images, Suite No. 4, Op. 39:
• 15 Chopin: Waltzes, Op. 34: No. 2 in A Minor "Valse Brillante" (Version for Harp) 06:03
• Fred Hersch (b. 1955): Three Character Studies:
• 16 Hersch: Three Character Studies: I. Nocturne for Left Hand Alone (Version for Harp) 05:09
• Jean-Michel Damase (1928 - 2013): Fantaisie pour harpe sur des motifs des Contes d'Hoffmann d'Offenbach:
• 17 Damase: Fantaisie pour harpe sur des motifs des Contes d'Hoffmann d'Offenbach 08:02
• Frédéric Chopin: Nocturnes, Op. 48:
• 18 Chopin: Nocturnes, Op. 48: No. 2 in F Sharp Minor. Andantino (Version for Harp) 07:05
• Total Runtime 01:15:25

Info for Nightscapes

A highly personal and contemporary approach to music for one of the most ancient and demanding instruments Nightscapes includes Britten’s Suite for Harp, exquisite Nocturnes by Field, Chopin and Clara Schumann, and miniature masterworks by Respighi, Pizzetti and Hersch.

Night falls in diverse ways in Magdalena Hoffmann’s Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company debut album. Nightscapes, set for release on 11 February 2022, sees the German harpist dive deep into the intimate, mysterious, magical world of night music, as well as exploring the theme of dance. Its tracklist spans everything from the austere beauty of Britten’s Suite for Harp Op. 83 and languid lyricism of Pizzetti’s Sogno to the folk‑like colours of Tournier’s La danse du moujik. The recording comprises both original pieces for solo harp and compositions for piano, skilfully transcribed by Hoffmann herself.

The compositions chosen by the artist portray a multitude of nightscapes, from those we can see to those we know by intuition. “At night everything becomes more intimate, more deeply felt, more multilayered,” observes Hoffmann. “The darkness encourages an inward gaze, while the soul stretches its wings – and so does the imagination. Whether in dreams or during sleepless nights, the limitations placed on our minds by the (every)day begin to melt away.”

Nightscapes opens with Respighi’s sublime Notturno in G flat major, one of his Sei pezzi per pianoforte. The programme also includes two Nocturnes for piano by the genre’s inventor, John Field, and Clara Schumann’s Notturno, an unsettling, impassioned expression of longing. Britten’s five-movement Suite for Harp (1969), a tour de force of harp technique and rich in unusual tone colours, is built around an otherworldly central Nocturne – just as Damase’s Fantaisie on motifs from Les Contes d’Hoffmann is centred around the famous nocturnal Barcarolle. The Nocturne for the Left Hand Alone by American jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch builds a bridge to the present and offers a different taste of the night. The album closes with Chopin’s Nocturne in F sharp minor Op. 48 No. 2, an ideal source of solace for the insomniac’s troubled soul. “My instrument creates a special space for this nocturnal intimacy, but also for the fantastical and magical,” says the artist.

Complementing and contrasting with this repertoire are a number of dances. This form of expression suits the harp very well, given the physicality involved in playing the instrument: the modern concert harp weighs around 40 kilos and confronts the performer with 47 strings and seven pedals, the latter used to raise each string by a tone or semitone – the feet performing their own, independent dance steps. On Nightscapes, Hoffmann and her instrument dance through three waltzes by Chopin as well as two original works for harp: Tournier’s La danse du moujik and fellow French virtuoso harpist Henriette Renié’s magical Danse des lutins.

“In the music on this album, I wanted to use the harp to tell different nocturnal stories, to dance through the night and dream the night away.” (Magdalena Hoffmann)

Magdalena Hoffmann, harp

Magdalena Hoffmann
was appointed principal harpist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2018. Previously, she held the same position with the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra for four years and teaches at the Tyrolean Conservatory of Music since 2015. In March 2021, she signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon.

She studied with Fabiana Trani in Düsseldorf, with Cristina Bianchi in Munich and with Skaila Kanga in London. In addition, she worked with many famous harpists such as Fabrice Pierre, Isabelle Moretti, Mara Galassi, Alice Giles, Milda Agazarian and Park Stickney. She received numerous scholarships and has won prizes at various national and international competitions in Germany, France, the UK and Slovenia; most recently, she received two special awards at the prestigious International ARD Competition in Munich. ​

In high demand as a chamber musician, Magdalena Hoffmann has been invited as soloist and chamber musician to festivals such as the DAVOS Festival or the Festival Alpenklassik. She performs with renowned musicians, namely Karl-Heinz Schütz, Andrea Lieberknecht or Aleksey Igudesman.

Magdalena not only chooses her concert programmes with the aim of extending the conventional harp repertoire, but also constantly works on interdisciplinary concepts. In 2014, she first performed her theatre concert "ODYSSEY on 47 Strings" at the Harp Masters Festival in Switzerland, in 2017 she contributed texts and illustrations to Aleksey Igudesman's album "Funny Animals" (Universal Editions).

Her first solo CD "FOOTNOTES" was published in 2018.

​Magdalena Hoffmann is cultural ambassador for the project CASA HOGAR, which aims to provide education and a home for young girls in Istmina in the Colombian crisis region Chocó.

Booklet for Nightscapes