『くるみ割り人形とねずみの王様』は、E.T.A.ホフマンのメルヒェン。1816年に発表され、その後作品集『ゼラピオン同人集』に収められた。チャイコフスキーのバレエ『くるみ割り人形』の原作として知られる作品である。
「砂男」は、E.T.A.ホフマンの短編小説。1817年に発表されたのち作品集『夜景小曲集』に収められた。学生ナタナエルが幼児期から怖れていた砂男の影におびえ、しだいに理性を蝕まれていく様を描くグロテスクな物語である。バレエ『コッペリア』およびオッフェンバッハのオペラ『ホフマン物語』はこの小説をもとに作られている。 …
A lawyer by day and a creator of a world of fantasy by night, Hoffman (1776-1822) lived a Jekyll and Hyde existence. Many of the characters in his stories are subject to a similar split personality. The duality of his nature is frequently reflected in some of his characters—Cardillac the goldsmith in Mademoiselle de …
『牡猫ムルの人生観』は、E.T.A.ホフマンの長編小説。人語を解する猫ムルの回想録と、架空の音楽家クライスラーの伝記とを取り混ぜて構成する、風刺的な小説である。1819年に第1部、1821年に第2部が発表された。第3部も構想されていたが、作者の死によって書かれないままとなった。 …
The charismatic monk Medardus becomes implicated in a deadly mystery against his will. As he travels towards Rome he wrestles with the enigma of his own identity while pursued by his murderous doppelganger. The monk's only hope for salvation lies with the beautiful Aurelie; but in order to escape the curse which lies …
One of the earliest examples of the classic murder mystery, Hoffman’s remarkable book has been the inspiration for a host of thriller and crime writers. Parisian goldsmith Monsieur Cardillac is a genius at his craft. Greatly admired throughout Paris, he is renowned for his works of exquisite and matchless beauty. So …
Hoffmann, among the greatest and most popular of the German Romantics, is renowned for his humorous and sometimes horrifying tales of supernatural beings. This selection, while stressing the variety of his work, focuses on those stories in which the real and the supernatural are brought into contact and conflict. This …
Among the many works in the Romantic ground-swell that marked a transformation of the artistic imagination, none is more fascinating or more revealing than a remarkable collection of prose published anonymously in 1814. The sole credit of authorship rested in the subtitle, Blatter aus dem Tagebuche eines reisenden …