 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chrissie
Date: 2002-02-09 04:02
Hey, does anyone out there have any direct background on Hindemith's Clarinet Sonate? What was going on in his life at the time... any direct inspiration for the work, etc? I'm currently working on it, and I'm curious.
Thanks!
Chrissie
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-02-09 04:26
Hindemith had just left Germany in 1938 as a result of the Nazi oppression and the public's critcism of his works. He and his wife settled in Blusch, Switzerland where he (they) spent the next 15 months in a peaceful and restful atmosphere.
The Sonata was written in September of 1939. During this time Hindemith had made the acquiantance of Werner Reinhart, the same wealthy businessman who had been so helpful to Stravinsky in his producing of "L'histoire du Soldat". (Stravinsky eventually dedicated the chamber version to him).
Hindemith dedicated his Clarinet Sonata to Reinhart as well...GBK
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-02-09 04:58
One extra Hindemith fact:
It has been written that Hindemith could play every standard orchestral instrument, at least passably. (yes folks, including the clarinet)
However, he was a virtuoso on the viola.
I'm not sure if he ever complained about finding a good reed...GBK
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-10 22:00
I've got a really old 68 of Hindemith playing the Swan Turner (forget the german title) - his viola playing was extraordinary - his viola writting is very difficult technically requires a virtuoso performer. His wind sonatas, on the other hand are not so quirky or technically demanding - afterall, as GBK pointed out he was, primarily, a violist.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-02-11 19:34
Chrissie -
As always, GBK is right.
Here are a couple of things I put on the board a few years back about the Hindemith Sonata:
Hindemith was a great student of medieval and renaissance music, and he used some characteristic early music phrasing, with unequal phrase lengths and shifts back and forth between duple and triple meter (even though the time signature doesn't change.
For example, in the opening line, the first 3 notes are a pickup, the G is a downbeat, the next 3 notes are an ornament, followed by a downbeat on the next G. The following high C is on a weak beat and should not be accented. The next accented note is the F, which then relaxes off to the D in a feminine phrase ending.
In the following phrase, once again the strong note is the G on top of the staff, and not the following high D.
You determine these things by listening to the piano and noting where the chord changes are.
diz-
The German title of the Hindemith viola concerto is "Die Schwanendreher" and refers to a man tending a swan roasting on a spit. I'm not sure whether the reference is to the "Song of the Roasted Swan" that Orff put in Carmina Burana, but it may be.
The old recording I know is by William Primrose, not Hindemith. Hindemith was a decent violist, but not a big virtuoso.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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