Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis - Hartmann: Piano Sonata "27 April 1945" / Walker

$21.99
Label
First Hand Records
Release Date
June 1, 2018
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      HARTMANN HINDEMITH
    • PERFORMER
      Esther Walker
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      June 01, 2018
    • UPC
      5060216340654
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      FHR54
    • LABEL
      First Hand Records
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Prelude

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    2. II. Fugue No. 1 in C Major: Slow

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    3. III. Interlude: Moderate, with energy

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    4. IV. Fugue No. 2 in G Major: Gay

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    5. V. Interlude: Pastorale, moderate

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    6. VI. Fugue No. 3 in F Major: Andante

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    7. VII. Interlude: Scherzando

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    8. VIII. Fugue No. 4 in A Major: With energy - Slow, grazioso - Tempo primo

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    9. IX. Interlude: Fast

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    10. X. Fugue No. 5 in E Major: Fast

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    11. XI. Interlude: Moderato

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    12. XII. Fugue No. 6 in E-Flat Major: Quiet

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    13. XIII. Interlude: March

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    14. XIV. Fugue No. 7 in A-Flat Major: Moderato

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    15. XV. Interlude: Very broad

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    16. XVI. Fugue No. 8 in D Major: With strength

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    17. XVII. Interlude: Very fast

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    18. XVIII. Fugue No. 9 in B-Flat Major: Moderate, scherzando

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    19. XIX. Interlude: Very quiet

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    20. XX. Fugue No. 10 in D-Flat Major: Moderately fast, grazioso

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    21. XXI. Interlude: Allegro pesante

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    22. XXII. Fugue No. 11 in B Major (Canon): Slow

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    23. XXIII. Interlude: Valse

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    24. XXIV. Fugue No. 12 in F-Sharp Major: Very quiet

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    25. XXV. Postludium

      Composer: Paul Hindemith

      Performer: Esther Walker

    26. I. Bewegt

      Composer: Karl Amadeus Hartmann

      Performer: Esther Walker

    27. III. Marcia funebre: Lento

      Composer: Karl Amadeus Hartmann

      Performer: Esther Walker

    28. IV. Allegro risoluto

      Composer: Karl Amadeus Hartmann

      Performer: Esther Walker


Paul Hindemith and Karl Amadeus Hartmann were born a decade apart and died in the same month. Hindemith was the more inclusive artist while Hartmann more fully reflected the cultural concerns of his time; as conveyed by the contemporaneous but aesthetically very different pieces on this release. Composed in 1942 during his stay in the United States, Ludus Tonalis was first performed in 1943 in Chicago. It is one of the greatest solo piano works of the mid-20th century, exploring matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. This masterpiece comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys and was intended to be the 20th century equivalent to J.S. Bach’s The WellTempered Clavier. Written just three years after Ludus Tonalis, Hartmann’s Piano Sonata [No.2] depicts the shuffling feet of 20,000 camp prisoners from Dachau whom Hartmann watched being marched away from the approaching Allies. The subtitle of Hartmann’s work, ‘27 April 1945’, is clarified by an epigraph the composer (in his own words) positioned at the head of the score: ‘On the 27th and 28th of April 1945 trudged an endless stream of Dachau prisoners of war past us … unending was the misery … unending was the sorrow’. This is made explicit by the (central) Lento, a ‘Marcia funebre’ that ranks with Hartmann’s finest utterances; its sombre and fatalistic tread – shot through with fanfare-like elements – reaching an impassioned climax before regaining its mood of numbed sorrow. Esther Walker is pianist who combines “virtuoso fire and musical temperament” with “lyrical sensibility” in an almost ideal way.