Randall Hodgkinson - The Manatee: Piano Music of Bernard Hoffer (2019)

Bernard Hoffer, born in Switzerland, came to the United States in 1941. He received degrees from Eastman, served as an arranger for the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C., and worked in New York as a freelance musician, composer, conductor and arranger. He is known not only for his chamber and orchestral music but also for works written for films, television, and commercials, notably the score to Thundercats, and themes for PBS News Hour and The American Experience. This fifth release devoted to his music on Albany Records features music for piano and the composer says that many of them are of a biographical nature, inspired by events or observations. Randall Hodgkinson, the distinguished American pianist is the featured performer, joined by Leslie Amper on Hoffer's work for two pianos, Events and Excursions.