Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

's ''Der Schwanendreher'' (literally, "The Swan Turner") is a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

for

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. ''Der Schwanendreher'' occupies a place at the core of the viola concerto repertoire, along with the concertos by

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

and Bartók. It was composed in 1935 and premiered by the composer himself at a performance in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

on 14 November 1935. Each movement is based on a separate

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

German

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

, thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "Concerto from Old Folk Songs". This composition draws its title from the final movement's folk song base, "Aren't you the swan turner?" The orchestra calls for 2

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s (one doubling on

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

, 2

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s, 2 bassoons, 3

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, and a string section of 4

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

s and 3

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

es. This orchestration is interesting due to its lack of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s and

s which benefits the composition by making it easier for the solo

to be heard. The movements are: #"Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal": Langsam – Mäßig bewegt, mit Kraft ("Between mountain and deep valley": Slow – Moderately moving, with strength) #"Nun laube, Lindlein laube": Sehr ruhig – Fugato: "Der Gutzgauch auf dem Zaune sass" ("Now grow leaves, little

linden tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

, grow leaves": very calm – Fugato: "The Cuckoo Sat on the Fence") #Variationen: "Seid ihr nicht der Schwanendreher": Mäßig schnell (Variations: "Aren't you the swan turner?": Moderately fast)

Meaning of title

The concerto's title, translated as "The Swan Turner", comes from the name of the last and fourth German folk song used (namely in the third movement), entitled "Seid ihr nicht der Schwanendreher" ("Aren't you the swan turner?"). The original context of "swan turner" in medieval times is that of a cook's assistant who would turn the handle of a spit on which

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

s were roasting. However, in the context of the concerto itself (and evidenced in the text of the folk song), the meaning programmatically seems to refer to a wandering medieval minstrel, or

organ grinder A street organ (french: orgue de rue or ''orgue de barbarie''; german: Straßenorgel) played by an organ grinder is a French-German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most com ...

, who plays on an instrument such as the

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

(and providing embellishments and rhapsodies on the folk tunes), which has a handle shaped as a swan's neck, thus the "swan turner" being the travelling musician himself, described by the composer in the preface notes to the work.

Planned British premiere

The British premiere was scheduled for 22 January 1936, with the composer as soloist in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. However, just before midnight on 20 January,

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

died. The following day, from 11 am to 5 pm, Hindemith wrote ''

Trauermusik ''Trauermusik'' is a suite for viola and string orchestra, written on 21 January 1936 by Paul Hindemith at very short notice in memory of King George V of the United Kingdom, who died the previous night. The title means "Mourning Music" or "Fu ...

'' in homage to the late king. It was scored for viola and string orchestra, and was performed that evening, in a live broadcast from a BBC studio, with Adrian Boult conducting and the composer as soloist. The scheduled premiere of ''Der Schwanendreher'' was cancelled. ''Trauermusik'' contains quotations from '' Symphony: Mathis der Maler'' and ''Der Schwanendreher''. Michael Steinberg
''The Concerto''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwanendreher, Der

Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

Compositions by Paul Hindemith Compositions for viola and orchestra 1935 compositions