Franz Anton Hoffmeister was a German-born composer and music publisher of the Classical period, born in Rottenburg am Neckar and active mainly in Vienna, where he studied law before turning to music and establishing one of the city’s earliest music publishing houses in 1785, later co-founding the Leipzig firm Bureau de Musique in 1799. A prolific composer, his output includes more than fifty symphonies, at least eight operas, over twenty-five flute concertos, and numerous concertos and chamber works for viola and oboe. He died in Vienna in 1812.

As a publisher and personal friend of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, whose works he issued, Hoffmeister played a significant role in the dissemination of Viennese Classical music; his publishing house evolved into the prestigious C.F. Peters Edition, which remains active today. His own concertos, particularly for viola, continue to hold a place in the instrument’s relatively limited concerto repertoire.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Anton_Hoffmeister