Roman Hoffstetter or Roman (us) Hofstetter (24 April 1742 - 21 May 1815) was a classical composer and Benedictine monk, who admired Haydn to the point of copying it. Some of his compositions (called the six String Quartets Opus 3, also known as the Haydn Serenade), were mistakenly attributed to his famous contemporary. He published other string quartets (Op.1 by Diller and Hummel in 1771 and Op.2 in 1782) under his own name. In addition to these works, there are about 2 or 3 quartets preserved in a handwritten way. Hoffstetter took habits like Pater Romanus in the Benedictine monastery of Amorbach in 1763, remaining there until the secularization of this one, in 1803. Mo is known nothing about its early studies or of its life, although it can be supposed that it came of a family with musical knowledge. He soon accepted the position of Regens Chori (Director of Choir), in addition to officiating as an organist and sometimes a priest in the Odenwald region, although his main position in the monastery was that of Kuchenmeister (Master Cook). In addition to his string quartets (which had to be carefully reviewed, since they had striking stylistic resemblances to Haydn), Hoffstetter composed about 10 masses (many of which were preserved in archives of the Archdiocese in Würzburg), as well as a small number of works for church, including a lost Miserere in which he collaborated with the Swiss-German composer Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792). In addition, there are 3 concerts for Viola offered for sale in the Breiktopf catalog in 1785. It could be said that they are the best examples and promoters of virtuosity for Viola written in the eighteenth century, and, if genuine, could represent the cusp of the creative career of Hoffstetter. [Fine, M., "The Viola Concertos of Fr. Roman Hoffstetter, OSB," DMA diss., Memphis St. Univ., 1990]
Hoffstetter is best known for his friendship with Kraus, who was born near Miltenberg am Main. This friendship began about 1774 and continued through the appointment of Kraus as court composer of the Swedish king Gustav III, until the death of Kraus. Hoffstetter corresponded with Kraus, and his early biographer, Swedish diplomat Fredrik Samuel Silverstolpe, who put him in touch with his idol, Haydn. Nine of these letters, written between 1800 and 1802, have been preserved in the Silverstope collection at the Upsala University Library. [Unverricht, H. "Die Beide Hoffstetter," 1968] Following the secularization of Amorbach, Hoffstetter retired, deaf and blind almost completely, to Miltenburg am Main with its abbot, Benedikt Kuelsheimer. Most of the works written for Amorbach were lost in the dissolution of the monastic library by French troops in 1803. Bibliography
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