Hindemith and the Viola
Paul Hindemith was a man of many talents - a Renaissance man - in the
breadth of his sympathies and the multiplicity of his skills. He was a
composer, a player of numerous instruments, principally the viola and
piano, conductor, writer, teacher, composer, draughtsman, and humorist. Almost alone he continued the tradition of the string
player/composer into the twentieth century, and he did it via the hitherto
unsung viola.
He was born into relatively humble circumstances in Hanau, near Frankfurt on November 16, 1895. his father loved music and passed this enthusiasm on to his three children. Paul and his sister Toni both played violin and piano, and their younger brother became an excellent cellist.
By
1908 Hindemith was enrolled in the prestigious Hoch Conservatory. While at
the conservatory in 1915, he became a member of the Frankfurt Opera
Orchestra and second violinist in the Rebner String Quartet.
In 1917 he was called up for war service, and served in the military until 1919. Upon his return he switched to playing viola in the Rebner quartet. In 1921 Hindemith formed his own quartet led by the Turkish violinist Licco Amar. They toured together until 1929, performing, among other works, the quartets of their violist! In its life span of less than a decade the Amar Quartet became known for its promotion of modern scores. In 1929 Hindemith switched gears and founded a string trio. Among its changing members were co-founder Joseph Wolfsthal, Szymon Goldberg, Emanuel Feuermann, Walther Caspar and his own brother, Rudolf.
By the time Hitler appeared on the German political scene in 1933, Hindemith had to his credit a large body of compositions, the acknowledged ability to play fourteen instruments, to conduct, and to teach, and a textbook he had written explaining his system of harmony. All this and his reputation did not save him. In 1934 performances of his works were banned. Although not banished outright from Germany, he, unlike some other composers, preferred not to remain. He left for Switzerland, and by 1940 he was in the United States teaching at Yale. His days as a performing violist were virtually over, and sadly this meant that he would write nothing more of importance for the instrument. After the war he made regular visits to Europe, and by 1951 was splitting his time between Yale and the University of Zurich. In 1953 he took up permanent residence in Switzerland where he died in 1963.
Like his older contemporary, Lionel Tertis, Hindemith took a keen interest in the viola itself - its size, sound, shape and so on. though he could pick up almost any instrument and play it with some competence, his knowledge of, and identification with the viola was especially deep. His viola compositions all belong to the best years of his career. That career can be loosely divided into three sections: early, 1917 -1924, middle, 1924-1933, and mature, 1933-1963. Within these three categories he would produce an incredible variety of genres at any one point. For example in 1934 Hindemith was recording one of his solo sonatas, when it became clear that the recording would fill up an odd number of 78 rpm sides. So within three hours he had simply composed a whole new piece, the Scherzo for viola and cello, which he and Emanuel Fuermann then recorded. He was canny enough to give most of the difficulties to his colleague, a legendary sightreader! One year later, as he was about to premier his third and largest viola concerto, Der Schwandendreher, news came of the death of King George V. Since the concerto was unsuitable for the memorial mood of the moment, Hindemith promptly set about writing another. With copyists standing by, the beautiful Trauermusik was created.
His compositions from the early period are experimental and full of youthful impetuousness. He enjoyed blending lyrical and rhapsodic melodies with unusual forms. Influences from the music of Brahms, Max Reger, Richard Strauss and even Debussy are heard throughout. The variety of styles incorporated from one piece to the next is astonishing, and yet understandable at the same time, since he was only flexing his young compositional muscles. part II cont'd>