Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (January 24, 1776 – June 25, 1822), better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. He is the subject and hero of Jacques Offenbach's famous but fictional opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Hoffmann's stories were tremendously influential in the 19th century, and he is one of the key authors of the Romantic movement. All his life, Hoffman's passion was music. Interestingly, the "A" in "E.T.A." stands for "Amadeus" which gave him the same middle name as the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Few writers have written well on music, but true to his love for music, Hoffmann applied the instincts of a composer in his writings. He wrote nine operas including the opera The Water Sprite, considered as one of the first German Romantic opera. He also composed chamber and piano music, several works for chorus and orchestra, and one symphony. Most of his music is now forgotten. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.