For the first time Hindemith's Clarinet Quintet op. 30 can be heard in it's original version of 1923. In this version it is one of Hindemith's wildest and most adventurous works, not to compare with the smooth conventional one of 1954 which has been the only version known. The Repertoire for Military Orchestra "Minimax" is one of Hindemith's musical parodies. It was composed in only two days to form the rousing finale to the Donaueschingen Chamber Music Concerts of 1923. Here Hindemith parodies the usual musical forms for military bands. The "Overture to the 'Flying Dutchman' as Played at Sight by a Second-Rate Concert Orchestra at the Village Well at 7 o'clock in the Morning" - undated but probably composed around 1925 - is not a parody of Wagner's music, but rather exactly the kind of music making described in the title. This music was found in Hindemith's remains and has not been published yet. Buchberger Quartett (Hubert Buchberger, Julia Greve: violin / Joacchim Etzel: viola / Helmut Sohler: cello) / Peter Klaus L�ffler: clarinet.

These 1987 realizations of the Mathis Symphony and the Symphonic Metamorphosis from Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony, marking their first recorded collaboration, are powerful, deeply felt, and thrilling to the ear. The Mathis is particularly striking in it's evocation of mood: dramatic without being overblown. Blomstedt is notably successful with the score's difficult concluding movement-by making each of it's episodes substantive, he makes the whole seem less episodic than it usually does. Both here and in the Symphonic Metamorphosis, there is beautiful wind and brass playing from the San Franciscans; they are clearly well rehearsed and exhibit a commendable responsiveness to Blomstedt's direction. The recording is of demonstration quality: impressive in it's depth, sense of space, and visceral impact.

Apparently it was only after he finished his one-act opera "M�rder, Hoffnung der Frauen" (Murder, Hope of Women) Op. 12 (text by Oskar Kokoschka) that Hindemith hit on the plan for a triptych consisting of that work and two others. The one-act opera "Das Nusch-Nuschi" Op. 20 (text by Franz Blei), the second work in this series, was not completed until a year after "Murder, Hope of Women"; Hindemith finished the second opera on 14 August 1920. In contrast "Sancta Susanna" Op. 21 (text by August Stramm) was already finished on 5 February 1921. Hindemith probably discovered the texts by Blei and Stamm simultaneously, and immediately recognized the possibility of extending and continuing the theme of "Murder, Hope of Women" with these two other pieces. It was thus that a triptych of one-act operas closely connected in their thematic content came into being. The three works deal with the same subjects from three fundamentally different points of view. The general themes include sexuality, culture, punishment, violence, and transfiguration.

Music-making for Hindemith included from the beginning performance and interpretation as well as the composition of music. Hindemith recalled: "As I began to compose, I had to overcome significant obstacles (my father opposed in every way what he regarded as a useless occupation), but this only made me work harder and brought me amazingly far in a relatively short period of time." The result of this development can be heard from the new CD in the series "Edition Paul Hindemith" which contains works for piano four-hands or two pianos. Andreas Grau (b. 1965) and G�tz Schumacher (b. 1966) have been a piano duo for over 15 years. Numerous prizes (among others the Prize of the German Music Council in 1989, Jeunesses Musicales 1989, the Bellini Competition 1991, and the Schubert Competition in Graz 1992) led early on to an extensive concert career both in Germany and abroad. From the beginning curiosity and openness characterized their artistic conception. CD recordings for various labels have been specially recognized by "Le Monde de la musique" and "Diapason".

The German soprano Juliane Banse has sung the Lieder of Brahms, Schubert, Wolf, Ullmann, Strauss, Schumann, Loewe and Berg, earning a reputation for both the quality of her interpretations and the warmth of her timbre. She and her regular partner Martin Helmchen, who has just joined Alpha, have chosen to record Paul Hindemith’s song cycle Das Marienleben, composed in 1923 and revised by the composer in 1948. The piece is a bewitching, sometimes disturbing cycle whose texts, taken from the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, retrace the life of the Virgin Mary. Fifteen poems, fifteen episodes tinged with mysticism and lyricism. They proved to be the ideal inspiration for Hindemith, whose compositional style here draws on both the power of Wagner’s operas and the subtle nuances of Debussy.

HINDEMITH: Piano Works, Vol. 4

HINDEMITH: Piano Works, Vol. 2

HINDEMITH: Piano Works, Vol. 1

Classical Music

Classical Music

Paul Hindemith's chamber music with clarinet includes some of his finest work in the medium. The 1939 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano finds the composer in a surprisingly relaxed and mellow mood, especially considering the terrible situation in which he had recently found himself in Germany--the scandal over the premiere of his opera Mathis der Mahler and his conflict with the Nazi government leading to his eventual emigration to the United States. You'd never know it to hear this sunny, tuneful work, which John Bruce Yeh plays with straightforward charm and just a touch less tonal warmth and attention to dynamic nuance than would be ideal. Still, it's a performance that, like the work itself, falls very easily on the ear, and composer Easley Blackwood offers a sympathetic piano accompaniment.


On the other hand, the Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano of 1938 features a slow movement that rises to extraordinary heights of passion, particularly for Hindemith. The players of the Amelia Piano Trio achieve real intensity here, and Yeh's long elegiac solo immediately following the movement's climax is exquisitely phrased. The long, episodic finale's central section, based on an eruptive saltarello rhythm, similarly builds to a moment of almost transfiguring intensity before the more emotionally ambiguous conclusion. If you enjoy Hindemith's best mature work--the Mathis der Maler Symphony, for example--you will find much to admire here. This quartet is a masterpiece, and this easily is its best recorded performance.


The Clarinet Quintet dates from 1923 but was revised in 1954, presumably to make it somewhat less acerbic as was Hindemith's practice in reworking what he came to regard as some of his youthful indiscretions. The very opening, with wild clarinet runs and violent string interjections, shows the energetic young composer at his most colorful and uninhibited, but the work also has plenty of easily enjoyable tunes, and its 20 minutes (spread over five movements) goes very quickly. The two tiny duets for clarinet and violin from the Music Day at Plön aren't musically important or memorable, but they are very well played.


Sonically this recording, like most of Cedille's recent work, is simply gorgeous. You will be hard pressed to find a more natural or better balanced sound than that captured in the Quartet, with the piano perfectly placed and the clarinet beautifully integrated into the ensemble so that Yeh's silky low tones color the string textures as Hindemith intended. The fact that Yeh seems a touch too forward in the Sonata undoubtedly reflects the preference of the players themselves. This then is a very distinguished release, one that even those who normally avoid Hindemith, and especially his chamber music, very easily could come to relish.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Hindemith Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, John Neschling Orchestral Works

Hindemith's seven string quartets were produced in different phases of his compositional development, all reflecting the experience of being a distinguished and experienced string player. Influenced both by Brahmsian late-Romanticism and by the catastrophic events of the First World War, the imaginative String Quartet No. 1 reflects his concern to extend but honor traditional forms. Cast in the form of a suite, the by turns tempestuous and beautiful String Quartet No. 4 remains Hindemith's most popular and performed quartet. This is the third and final volume of a highly acclaimed cycle. 'As with the previous release in this series, the performances are all outstanding.