# Favourite Hindemith piece



## schuberkovich (Apr 7, 2013)

I've been exploring Hindemith's output and am convinced he's a genius. My favourite piece (maybe because it is the piece I know best) is his bassoon sonata. The moods it creates are unlike those in any other music, and there's a beautiful logic in the unpredictability of the music.






What about you?


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I haven't heard very many but since I was pretty (&) young I always loved Mathis der Maler


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

I'm a big fan of his Sonata for bass tuba & piano and the one for trumpet and piano as well.


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

I forgot to mention how much I enjoy his string quartets and piano sonatas as well.


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## Autocrat (Nov 14, 2014)

I've always had a soft spot for his oboe sonata. Fun piece to play.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

I like _Nobilissima visione_ a lot.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

*edit* Mentioned a work that I was listening to that wasn't by Hindemith--somehow I saw "Hindemith" and thought "Nielsen" :lol:

Anyways, my favorite work by Hindemith is...hard to say. Maybe The Four Temperaments.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Blancrocher said:


> I'd say he saved the best for last--"Commotio," for organ.


That's Nielsen.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Since I have 158 recordings of Hindemith in my CD library there is no way I cab state which is my favorite.

I can tell which is my least favorite. That would be the _Pittsburgh Symphony_.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Guess I have an unimaginative answer- but it's neck-and-neck between _Metamorphosis_ & _Trauermusik_.

The story behind the composition of _Trauermusik_, in particular, is pretty amazing(!)


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

He excelled in all categories somewhere along the line so it's a difficult choice to make seeing there's so much music but I would tentatively go for the _Kammermusik_ no. 1, op. 24 no. 1 (1922) for flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harmonium, piano, string quintet and percussion, as I think this is arguably the best of the key works of that time which wrenched him away from his previous expressionist phase to composing music sparer in texture but at the same time much more taut than before.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

That's kind of difficult to answer 

I am very fond of the works for Cello and Piano (I have a 2-volume set on Wergo that seems to include his entire output in this area). I also like Kammermusik (it seems that many of the components have different opus numbers, so I'm not going to try to write them all out). There are two song cycles, Die Junge Magd and Des Todes Tod, that I find gorgeous. Neither the Organ Concerto nor the ballet, Der Dämon, should be overlooked: they're both favourites. The String Quartets are very fine, but I couldn't single out one or some yet.

I am less familiar with the orchestral works, as I only picked up the 3CD set on Decca a year or so ago. Ones I used to have on LP that are also on this set (meaning I remember them better) are Mathis der Mahler Symphonie, Symphonic Metmorphosis of Themes by Weber and Der Schwanendreher (definitely a big favourite—it's not just the curious name  but the viola that makes that work stand out for me).


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I can't pick one favorite.

Harp sonata
Mathis der Maler symphony
Der Schwanendreher
Nobilissima Visione
organ sonatas
String quartet No. 4
Kammermusik 1, 7

Operas:
Cardillac
Das Nusch-Nuschi
Mathis Der Maler


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## Truckload (Feb 15, 2012)

I have always found both the Mathis der Mahler Symphony and Metamorphosis compelling.

I haven't thought about Hindemith in a long time. He probably deserves more attention than he gets. I will have to dig out his "Craft of Musical Composition" and give it a read. A difficult book, but his system of harmonic classification can be illuminating.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

So many great works I love from Hindemith. Difficult to separate all those string quartets and Viola sonatas, I tend to think of them as all one body of work rather than pick a single one. _Ludus Tonalis_, the harp sonata, _Das Marienleben_, _Trauermusik_ are all among my favourite works from any composer but if I had to choose just one work I would say I like his requiem the most _When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd_ words by Walt Whitman.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

schuberkovich said:


> I've been exploring Hindemith's output and am convinced he's a *genius*.


UH-OH!

Seriously, though, the *String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10* is my favorite Paul Hindemith work. No. 1 is not far behind...nor is No. 3...or No. 7!






For real, among the music I know, few other composers had such an intimate grasp of the quartet form. Dvorak is another answer I'd give, and so, I am tempted to say: _viola_ people are naturals to the genre.

Truth. Dig it.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I do have quite a bit of Hindemith in my collection, including the cpo box sets titled _Complete Orchestral Works_ and featuring Werner Andreas Albert (Conductor) with the Queensland Symphony, which box sets I have recently been combing through.

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I have long cherished the 1943 composition _Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber _, which remains my favorite of the Hindemith works I've heard. It is at least the piece of his I have the most recordings of and the piece by him that I listen to most often, several times a year.

But I've had a long fondness for the Symphony in E-flat, since encountering the work in the 1970s on an Everest LP with Sir Adrian Boult commanding the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This has proven a favorite record since I added it to my library, a long time ago.










I also greatly admire the Violin Concerto, this, too, first encountered by me on an Everest LP which I acquired a long while ago and which still holds an honored place in my record collection.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

If you don't like his music, but trying where to begin?


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Pugg said:


> If you don't like his music, but trying where to begin?


Symphonic Metamorphoses on a theme of Weber or Symphony Mathis der Maler would be good starting points I think


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

dgee said:


> Symphonic Metamorphoses on a theme of Weber or Symphony Mathis der Maler would be good starting points I think


Thanks, going to try it :tiphat:


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

I must say, that Bassoon Sonata is quite something. I got to play it a couple years back (the piano part, of course), and I was surprised at how very lyrical it is. 

Favorite Hindemith -- prolly Schwanendreher or Trauermusik. Symphonic Metamorphosis is good, too. Haven't listened to him much in a while, though.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

My intro to Hindemith was the _Symphonic Metamorphoses_, and it remains my favourite. After I first heard it, I bought an album that had it, the _Mathis der Maler Symphony_ and the violin concerto, all of which I really enjoyed. Though I've heard quite a bit of Hindemith by now, I've never fully got a handle on him, and so those three remain my top pieces.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

For me it would be the _Mathis der Maler_ symphony, and the requiem _When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed_.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

_Harmonie der Welt _Symphony, conducted by Mravinsky.


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> He excelled in all categories somewhere along the line so it's a difficult choice to make seeing there's so much music but I would tentatively go for the _Kammermusik_ no. 1, op. 24 no. 1 (1922) for flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harmonium, piano, string quintet and percussion, as I think this is arguably the best of the key works of that time which wrenched him away from his previous expressionist phase to composing music sparer in texture but at the same time much more taut than before.


My completely non-tentative choice!


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

I would also add a plug for the Concert Music for Brass and Strings which I think is very exciting:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I like the Hindemith Violin Concerto. Isaac Stern did well by it.


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## Stirling (Nov 18, 2015)

Mathis der Maler Symphony


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

schuberkovich said:


> I've been exploring Hindemith's output and am convinced he's a genius. My favourite piece (maybe because it is the piece I know best) is his bassoon sonata. The moods it creates are unlike those in any other music, and there's a beautiful logic in the unpredictability of the music.
> 
> What about you?


As a trumpeter I can tell you that his* trumpet sonata *is GOLD! The last movement has a hymn 'all men must die' that is one of the most solemn and beautiful pieces of music that I know.

Besides that, I really love his *Piano Sonata No.2*, and *When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd *for choir and orchestra


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## Adair (Feb 9, 2016)

The String Trios
Ludus Tonalis
Violin Concerto 

My favorite version of the Ludus Tonalis is by Kabi Laretei on an old Philips LP.


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## Adair (Feb 9, 2016)

SONNET CLV said:


> I do have quite a bit of Hindemith in my collection, including the cpo box sets titled _Complete Orchestral Works_ and featuring Werner Andreas Albert (Conductor) with the Queensland Symphony, which box sets I have recently been combing through.
> 
> View attachment 81175
> View attachment 81176
> ...


Yes, these were also my introduction to Hindemith as a teenager. Everest LPs were wonderful. I especially love the Goosens recording of the Violin Concerto, and Fuchs does a powerful job. Goosens did several strong Everest LPS, including a particularly vivid Symphony in Three Movements by Stravinsky (superior even to the Klemperer version!).


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

The *Symphonic Metamorphosis* is definitely my work of Hindemith's, the one that got me interested in Hindemith (as well as the work that got me into Weber), and one of my favorite 20th century works in general.


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## Adair (Feb 9, 2016)

Pugg said:


> If you don't like his music, but trying where to begin?


Violin Concerto, perhaps. But maybe through another composer, William Walton. His Variations on a Theme by Hindemith are really lovely and true to Hindemith.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

dgee said:


> Symphonic Metamorphoses on a theme of Weber or Symphony Mathis der Maler would be good starting points I think


It's not really growing on me till now


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

Hindemith is one of my personal favourites. I got into his music with his piano concerto. Other pieces I really love are Mathis der Mahler symphony, concerto for woodwinds and harp, The 4 Temperaments and Noblissima Visione suite.

But if I had to choose one, I'd choose Mathis der Mahler. Maybe because that's the only one I've heard live. What a great experience!

Hindemith's music always feels like a little bit mysterious to me; I don't quite grasp it, and I guess that's what makes it sound fresh and interesting.


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## cliftwood (Apr 17, 2014)

*Hindemith's best work*



Lenny said:


> Hindemith is one of my personal favourites. I got into his music with his piano concerto. Other pieces I really love are Mathis der Mahler symphony, concerto for woodwinds and harp, The 4 Temperaments and Noblissima Visione suite.
> 
> But if I had to choose one, I'd choose Mathis der Mahler. Maybe because that's the only one I've heard live. What a great experience!
> 
> Hindemith's music always feels like a little bit mysterious to me; I don't quite grasp it, and I guess that's what makes it sound fresh and interesting.


My choice, without exception is the magnificent Symphony in E flat and I would recommend Bernstein's wonderful recording with NY Philharmonic, which is a cd I treasure.
This work is sorely neglected.


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