Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Violinist, then violist, proud herald of avant garde music, Paul Hindemith seems to be one of those composers we don’t know much about.
It is in1922 that some of his pieces were heard for the first time in the International Society for Contemporary Music festival at Salzburg and brought him to the attention of an international audience. The following year, he began to work as an organizer of the Donaueschingen Festival, where he programmed works by several avant garde composers, including Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg.
While some condemned his music as “degenerate” ans Joseph Goebbels publicly denounced Hindemith as an “atonal noisemaker”, others thought that he might provide Germany with an example of a modern German composer. He finally emigrated to Switzerland in 1938, then to the USA in 1940 and taught composition at the prestigious Yale University where he had such notable pupils as Lukas Foss, Norman Dello Joio, Mel Powell, Harold Shapero, Hans Otte, Ruth Schonthal, and Oscar-winning film director George Roy Hill. He became an American citizen in 1946, but returned to Europe in 1953, living in Zürich and teaching musicology at the university there.
Here are some famous quotes by the composer.
“My God, how can anyone ever be a master of music?”
“People who make music together cannot be enemies, at least while the music lasts.”
“There are only twelve tones and they need to be treated carefully.”
“There are only two things worth aiming for, good music and a clean conscience.”
I invite you to discover his wonderful Sonata for Harp, as performed by Valérie Milot on her Revelation album…