tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post2564309152495381407..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: The Case of Paul HindemithBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-30263342817742317082023-09-05T19:49:00.998-05:002023-09-05T19:49:00.998-05:00First movement of the second organ sonata has lots...First movement of the second organ sonata has lots of fizz! Jonathannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-84769761578874126232018-08-29T22:03:55.391-05:002018-08-29T22:03:55.391-05:00When I write a post like this one, pretty much dar...When I write a post like this one, pretty much daring people to disagree with me, I actually hope that I will get spirited and detailed responses like yours Wenatchee! Thanks so much. Now I have some Hindemith I need to explore. Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-18722531699780373832018-08-29T21:43:41.416-05:002018-08-29T21:43:41.416-05:00Hindemith's woodwind quintet is one of the sta...Hindemith's woodwind quintet is one of the staples of the woodwind quintet literature. I think it's adorable, personally ...<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9NFFCuAGA4<br /><br />one of the comments for this video comments that this work by Hindemith is so appraochable it almost resembles Poulenc. Wenatchee the Hatchethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13208892745502555715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-63369969318674712652018-08-29T21:40:11.589-05:002018-08-29T21:40:11.589-05:00a couple of his string quartets that I have liked ...a couple of his string quartets that I have liked over the years<br /><br />Op. 22<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHo8igW6qb8&t=47s<br /><br />Op. 32<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92tVdEKd6hg&t=17s<br /><br />fourth movement of his Op. 25,1 sonata for solo viola provides a clear example of why string players in general but violists in particular either love or dread his work.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oc_J-OY9RgWenatchee the Hatchethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13208892745502555715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-3460906989443952472018-08-29T21:17:25.082-05:002018-08-29T21:17:25.082-05:00I ... actually ... can't stand Gould's int...I ... actually ... can't stand Gould's interpretations of Hindemith. i'd lean more toward Earl Wild.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdcJHmEhVuU<br /><br />As composers of fugues go I think Hindemith did it better than Shostakovich, though both are among my favorite 20th century composers. Shostakovich seemed apt to add one extra voice than strictly necessary to any given polyphonic texture. <br /><br />The Amar-Hindemith quartet managed to perform works by the quarter-tone experimentalist Alois Haba. The Amar-Hindemith quartet also performed Bartok (one of the first quartets to ever record Bartok's 2nd), and Berg, as well as quartets by Webern, Wellesz, and others. Hindemith was right in the middle of the expressionist scene--he started off pretty radical and became more conservative as he consolidated his conviction that music, no matter how dissonant, should derive in some way from the overtone series. I never bought his series 1 and 2 as such but my dream string quartet concert would be Hindemith's Op. 22 followed by Bartok's 3rd followed by Shostakovich 3rd.<br />The great crankypants Adorno once declared Hindemith a reactionary but, compared to so many other composers whose music Adorno disliked, he granted Hindemith was, at least, a COMPETENT and talented reactionary. <br /><br />Hindemith was willing to advocate for music that, during the 1920s through 1930s, was considered way off the beaten path. That he was able and willing to play music that in his younger years was considered the lunatic fringe of concert music meant that even people who disliked his music or disliked him as a person felt obliged to consult him. I think I read somewhere that Stravinsky at one point consulted Hindemith about a violin issue despite having brutally dismissed Hindemith via letter as a "German Prokofiev". <br /><br />I actually like a fairly big chunk of Hindemith's music myself, though he's never going to displace Haydn among my all-time favorites. I think Angelo Gilardino is an admirer of Hindemith's work, if memory serves, so it may be that Hindemith fell out of favor for taking a stance against Schoenberg's method among the musical mainstream but I've met a number of fellow guitarists who admire Hindemith's work. He seems to be a respected if rarely loved niche composer. :) <br /><br />I would recommend Kim Kashkashian's recordings of Hindemith's solo viola music. One of the things he was legendary for was that after about 1933 there was not a single part in any of his orchestral scores he couldn't play himself. He taught himself to play French horn in a few weeks. <br /><br />Hindemith was at the forefront of the avant garde in the 1920s but as he diverged on the issue of twelve-tone he was regarded as something of a pariah by those who believed twelve-tone and serialism were the future of music. <br /><br />Actually, you should check out Hindemith's Rondo for three guitars. William Anderson did a charming version of it on a CD years ago with two other guitarists.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6JnsRdWmFc<br /><br />Technically the rondo can be played by just two guitars but it can be spritelier as a trio. When I consider the earlier Shostakovich piano literature I actually kind of hear an influence from Hindemith sometimes. <br /><br />Stravinsky claimed to have invented neoclassicism, didn't he? He granted that Hindemith was one of the exponents of the new style but Hindemith hasn't been considered an inventor so much as one of the more capable exponents of neoclassicism. What that largely seemed to mean was bailing on the expressionism and primitivism of the 1910s in favor of a more detached style that was also not veering into nascent atonality. Wenatchee the Hatchethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13208892745502555715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-10720602906707465432018-08-13T15:10:43.946-05:002018-08-13T15:10:43.946-05:00Thanks, Steffen. I will indeed check out the Symph...Thanks, Steffen. I will indeed check out the Symphony in E-flat. I don't think I have ever heard it.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-49784246287451918402018-08-13T10:58:45.258-05:002018-08-13T10:58:45.258-05:00Since you mentioned Mathis der Maler. Many people ...Since you mentioned Mathis der Maler. Many people only know this particular piece of H. I don't think this does H. justice. H. is so much more than Mathis der Maler. And since you compared it to S. 7th - I propose that you compare it with H.'s Symphony in E-flat. It's a much more suitable comparison, since both symphonies were created during the second World War and capture about the same spirit.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15972785791134594539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52037623708744523852018-08-10T06:14:35.016-05:002018-08-10T06:14:35.016-05:00My invitation to Hindemith lovers to comment on th...My invitation to Hindemith lovers to comment on this, I admit, somewhat provocative post has finally borne fruit. Five years later, mind you!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-40242341278097777412018-08-09T17:04:45.546-05:002018-08-09T17:04:45.546-05:00Sorry. I fail to see why Hindemith would be in any...Sorry. I fail to see why Hindemith would be in any way inferior to Shostakovitch. I quite like both although I listen more to Hindemith. What I can say about this it, that all of H. works have significant counterpoint and polyphony in it. If I would compare eg. the Sinfonia Serena of H. with already starts with a fugato with your example of S. 7th, I prefer the first. The opening movement of the 7th seems in fact boring and uninspired to me because it is basically a set of variations on the same few harmonies over and over again. <br /><br />Anyhow. Hindemith was a great composer and he always will be, no matter what people say...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15972785791134594539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-4516745609055863712018-05-27T09:31:09.301-05:002018-05-27T09:31:09.301-05:00Hindemith's universe is like no others, althou...Hindemith's universe is like no others, although it has the same appeal as Bach to me in that is is both sort of rigid and constrained but still carries a lot of musical depth (as different as they are in other respects of course). It simply appeals a lot to me, and I often find it refreshing to come back to Hindemith's universe after listening to other classical music with all its "charm" and "fizz", however much I like that too. (I like a lot of Shostakovichs works as well)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-79133769558807193732018-03-06T17:50:16.653-06:002018-03-06T17:50:16.653-06:00I suggest this video that I just found (after my p...I suggest this video that I just found (after my previous comment) for the exact fugue (with no Gould eccentricities) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nq5YVbaWE0 This is the second half of the sonata though. There is a timestamp for the fugue in the description. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03383663809679144493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59559187434047357112018-03-06T17:15:56.918-06:002018-03-06T17:15:56.918-06:00you just fail to understand the charm of hindemith...you just fail to understand the charm of hindemith and his fluctuating tonal language. There is a reason why Gould chose that piece over ALL of the pieces by Shostakovich. (the longer version of that Gould video features Gould telling the listener why fugues are still relevant nowadays. Then he proceeded to pick this out of the lot. This says lots.) Have you tried to listen to the entirety of sonata no.3, of which the fugue is the last movement? (hint: baffling!!) Comparing Hindemith's pieces to Shostakovich like that is ridiculous. First of all, It is like comparing ancient Chinese poetry to ancient Arabic poetry. Absolute nonsense! Not that you can't, but before you understand both languages (and their underlying feeling i.e. aesthetics), you shouldn't attempt to compare the literature in both. Anyway, objectively your choice for comparisons are improper. The A major fugue is famous for its simple subtle charm and simple tonal harmonic genius. The Hindemith is strict and serves as a finale/ climax of sort, but with a restraint characteristic to fugues. Just what to you want to get out of that? If I do it your way, I might just as well compare the a major with Brahms' fugue in handel variations and call Brahms significantly inferior. It just doesn't work that way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03383663809679144493noreply@blogger.com