HAPPY HAMPER

"Admirers of Gerard Hoffnung - and there are many of us - will rejoice at the appearance of the new collection", writes PD James in her foreword to this new addition to the Hoffnung books. One could not wish for a more warm and welcome accolade to celebrate its launchng! Hoffnung's Happy Hamper contains selections previously published in Ho Ho Hoffnung and Hoffnung's Harlequinade and drawings which had only previously appeared in magazines and newspaper columns. Hoffnung charms us with a potpourri of ideas in which he beguilingly observes the everyday occurences of life

LITTLE ONES

The drawings contained in this volume have been selected from illustrations made by Hoffnung for a sequence of articles entitled Points for Parents. These were written by Lady Elizabeth Pakenham (now Lady Longford) in the early fifties. The series originally appeared in the feature columns of the Daily Express and, shortly afterwards were published in book form. However much times have changed, Hoffnung's reflections on small children remain irrestistibly relevant today.

THE MAESTRO

There can be few conductors who have not laughed out loud at these cartoons and found a modicum of truth in them. In these 50 drawings, commencing with alerto, embracing con anima, con delicatezza, and molto pomposo, then on to appassionato until the final triumph (and relief) of bravo bravissimo, here is an affectionate and genial glimpse into the mystique surrounding the Maestro together with a loving appraisal of his antics.
FOREWORD by Sir Simon Rattle

THE HOFFNUNG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The fact that a multitude of individualists can be harnessed to produce a unified ensemble was to Hoffnung one of the miracles of music and helped inspire his cartoon of the full orchestra shown at the beginning of the book. In the cartoons that follow, one for each instrument, a whole gamut of emotions comes into play. Could the couple sharing the violin and the experience of playing it together be anything but in love? High-lighted are the hazards and dangers confronting players of cymbals and tubular bells, as are the shocks sometimes experienced by organists and harpists. Operating a wind-machine can be uncomfortable and sitting too close to a bass trombone positively painful. This book is informative to a high degree and supplies many chuckles per page.
FOREWORD by Peter Ustinov

THE HOFFNUNG MUSIC FESTIVAL

The conductor sharpens his baton on a pencil sharpener, Stravinsky checks his tempi against a metronome, the tenor controls his voice with the help of knobs on his waistcoat and the Hoffnung Music Festival is underway in a riotous happening of symphonic caricature. The Hoffnung Festival Chorus, with one or two exceptions is performing with confidence and enthusiasm and the Maestro himself looks well pleased. Visiting prima donnas are perhaps rather alarming and it is a pity the Battle Symphony ends the way it does. In contrast a piscatorial Trout Quintet brings an element of calm to the scene. This book is one not to be missed.
FOREWORD by Ronald Searle

THE HOFFNUNG COMPANION TO MUSIC

The inimitable Hoffnung felt it fitting to give this small volume the dignity of alphabetical sequence. In Companion to Music, C for Concert-goers and Critics is dealt with in some detail. Elsewhere a beautifully proportioned double bass held in total embrace makes an ideal dancing partner (see J for Jazz) and under H advice is given on the art of horn making. O for Orchestral Thoughts deals with a more serious subject, while V for Volante further develops the same subject. Hoffnung's concern over the welfare of animals is high-lighted under M for Marche Militaire, when a photograph on the front page of The Times of the royal ceremony of the Trooping of the Colour, caused him to ponder the comforts of cavaliy horses carrying the heavy burden of timpani.
FOREWORD by Harry Enfield

HOFFNUNG'S MUSICAL CHAIRS

Hoffnung's great love for animals shines from the first section of this book as does his appreciation of the elegance of their construction and their behaviour.. In his eyes all are individuals in their own right. His turtles are natural timpani and timpanists, elephants play trumpets and trombones just as cats are string players simply by inclination and because they are made that way. Cats were Hoffnung's great passion and the obvious delight of the cat in this book in being a musical instrument is unquestionable. Elsewhere an array of inimitable cartoons includes examples of the influence of music on domestic life, on fashion and ending with an exemplary instance of fortitude and determination in the face of tribulation. In keeping with its companion volumes, this book appeals is to the musical and the non-musical and to old and young alike.
FOREWORD by Ian Hislop

HOFFNUNG'S ACOUSTICS

Hoffnung's last book, published two weeks after his death highlights a superb and highly developed sense of the purely ridiculous in musical fun. A matador entices a prancing grand piano into the bull-ring and a similar instrument, at the crack of the ring-leader's whip, rears on its back leg to its full magnificent height. In the section on Noises Hoffnung reaches dizzying heights as he puts sound on to paper. Discover exactly what a cadenza, a pizzicato, a thud, a ping or a dozen other sounds actually look like. Fantastic too isthe swarm of instruments forming the Tutti, a drawing which bears endless scrutiny. This last book of Hoffnung's must be the most memorable of them all.
FOREWORD by Emily Hoffnung

HOW TO PURCHASE the Hoffnung Little Books

All books are out of stock pending a reprint in 2018