Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, music theorist, teacher, violist and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

. He founded the

Amar Quartet The Amar Quartet, also known as the Amar-Hindemith Quartet, was a musical ensemble founded by the composer Paul Hindemith in 1921 in Germany and was active in both classical and modern repertoire until disbanding in 1933. It made several recording ...

in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' Neue Sachlichkeit'' (new objectivity) style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as '' Kammermusik'', including works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. Other notable compositions include his song cycle '' Das Marienleben'' (1923), '' Der Schwanendreher'' for viola and orchestra (1935), the opera ''

Mathis der Maler ''Mathis der Maler'' (''Matthias the Painter'' is an opera by Paul Hindemith. The work's protagonist, Matthias Grünewald, was a historical figure who flourished during the Reformation, and whose art, in particular the Isenheim Altarpiece, ...

'' (1938), the ''

Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' is an orchestral work written by German composer Paul Hindemith in America in 1943. History The idea of composing a work based on Carl Maria von Weber's music was first put to Hinde ...

'' (1943), and the oratorio '' When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'', a requiem based on Walt Whitman's poem (1946).

Life and career

Hindemith was born in

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...

, near Frankfurt, the eldest child of the painter and decorator Robert Hindemith from Lower Silesia and his wife Marie Hindemith, née Warnecke. He was taught the violin as a child. He entered Frankfurt's Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium, where he studied violin with

Adolf Rebner Adolf Franklin Rebner (also Adolph Rebner) (21 November 1876 in Vienna – 19 June 1967 in Baden-Baden) was an Austrian violinist and violist. Rebner was a student of Jakob Grün at the Vienna Conservatory, graduating there with first prize in 1 ...

, as well as

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

and composition with

Arnold Mendelssohn Bust of Arnold Mendelssohn, at the Holy Trinity Community Cemetery, Berlin Arnold Ludwig Mendelssohn (26 December 1855 – 18 February 1933), was a German composer and music teacher. He was born in Ratibor, Province of Silesia; the son of Feli ...

and

Bernhard Sekles Bernhard Sekles (20 March 1872 – 8 December 1934) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue. Life and career Bernhard Sekles was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of Maximilian Seckeles and Anna (née Bischheim). The fami ...

. At first he supported himself by playing in dance bands and musical-comedy groups. He became deputy leader of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra in 1914 and was promoted to concertmaster in 1916. He played second violin in the Rebner

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

from 1914. Hindemith was conscripted into the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

in September 1917 and sent to join his regiment in Alsace in January 1918. There he was assigned to play bass drum in the regiment band and also formed a string quartet. In May 1918 he was deployed to the front in Flanders, where he served as a sentry; his diary has him "surviving grenade attacks only by good luck", according to ''

New Grove Dictionary ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theor ...

''. After the armistice he returned to Frankfurt and the Rebner Quartet. In 1921, he founded the

, playing viola, and extensively toured Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' Neue Sachlichkeit'' (new objectivity) style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as '' Kammermusik''. Reminiscent of Bach's ''

Brandenburg Concertos The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg ...

'', they include works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. In 1922, some of his pieces were played in the International Society for Contemporary Music festival at Salzburg, which first 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 Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. In 1927 he was appointed Professor at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.''A Dictionary of Twentieth Century World Biography.'' United Kingdom: Book Club Associates, 1992, p. 267. Hindemith wrote the music for Hans Richter's 1928 avant-garde film '' Ghosts Before Breakfast'' (''Vormittagsspuk'') and also acted in the film; the score and the original film were later burned by the Nazis. The score was recreated by Ian Gardiner in 2006. In 1929 he played the solo part in the premiere of William Walton's viola concerto, after Lionel Tertis, for whom it was written, turned it down. On 15 May 1924, Hindemith married the actress and singer Gertrud (Johanna Gertrude) Rottenberg (1900–1967). The marriage was childless. The

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

' relationship to Hindemith's music was complicated. Some condemned his music as "

degenerate Degeneracy, degenerate, or degeneration may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Degenerate'' (album), a 2010 album by the British band Trigger the Bloodshed * Degenerate art, a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to descr ...

" (largely based on his early, sexually charged operas such as '' Sancta Susanna''). In December 1934, during a speech at the

Berlin Sports Palace Berlin Sportpalast (; built 1910, demolished 1973) was a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Schöneberg section of Berlin, Germany. Depending on the type of event and seating configuration, the Sportpalast could hold up to 14,000 people a ...

, Germany's Minister of Propaganda

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

publicly denounced Hindemith as an "atonal noisemaker". The Nazis banned his music in October 1936, and he was subsequently included in the 1938

Entartete Musik Degenerate music (german: Entartete Musik, link=no, ) was a label applied in the 1930s by the government of Nazi Germany to certain forms of music that it considered harmful or decadent. The Nazi government's concerns about degenerate music were a ...

(Degenerate Music) exhibition in Düsseldorf. Other officials working in Nazi Germany, though, thought that he might provide Germany with an example of a modern German composer, as, by this time, he was writing music based in tonality, with frequent references to folk music. The conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler’s defence of Hindemith, published in 1934, takes this line. The controversy around his work continued throughout the thirties, with Hindemith falling in and out of favour with the Nazis. During the 1930s, Hindemith visited Cairo and also Ankara several times. He accepted an invitation from the Turkish government to oversee the creation of a music school in Istanbul in 1935, after Goebbels had pressured him to request an indefinite leave of absence from the Berlin Academy. In Turkey, he was the leading figure of a new music pedagogy in the era of president Kemal Atatürk. His deputy was Eduard Zuckmayer. Hindemith led the reorganization of Turkish music education and the early efforts to establish the

Turkish State Opera and Ballet Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and m ...

. He did not stay in Turkey as long as many other émigrés, but he greatly influenced Turkish musical life; the Ankara State Conservatory owes much to his efforts. Young Turkish musicians regarded Hindemith as a "real master", and he was appreciated and greatly respected. Toward the end of the 1930s, Hindemith made several tours of America as a viola and viola d'amore soloist. Paul Hindemith USA

He emigrated to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1938, partly because his wife was of part-Jewish ancestry. At the same time that he was codifying his musical language, Hindemith's teaching and compositions began to be affected by his theories, according to critics such as Ernest Ansermet. Arriving in the U.S. in 1940, he taught primarily at Yale University, where he founded the Yale Collegium Musicum. He had such notable students as Lukas Foss, Graham George, Andrew Hill, Norman Dello Joio, Mitch Leigh, Mel Powell,

Yehudi Wyner Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929, in Calgary, Alberta) is an American composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. Life and career Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent ...

, Harold Shapero, Hans Otte,

Ruth Schönthal Ruth Esther Hadassah Schonthal (June 27, 1924 in Hamburg, Germany – July 10, 2006 in Scarsdale, New York, United States) was a pianist and composer. Early years Ruth Schonthal was born in Hamburg of Viennese parents. At the age of five she be ...

, Samuel Adler,

Leonard Sarason Leonard Sarason (1925 – September 24, 1994) was a music composer, a pianist, and a mathematician. He earned a master's degree music composition from Yale University, supervised by Paul Hindemith.

, and Oscar-winning film director George Roy Hill. He also taught at the University at Buffalo, Cornell University, and Wells College. During this time he gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, from which the book ''

A Composer's World A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' was extracted. Hindemith had a long friendship with

Erich Katz Erich Katz (July 31, 1900 – July 30, 1973) was a German-born musicologist, composer, music critic, musician and professor. He fled the Nazis in 1939, arriving first in England, emigrating to the United States in 1943, where he became a citizen. He ...

, whose compositions were influenced by him. Also among Hindemith's students were the composers Franz Reizenstein and Robert Strassburg. Hindemith became a U.S. citizen in 1946, but returned to Europe in 1953, living in Zürich and teaching at the university there until he retired from teaching in 1957. Toward the end of his life he began to conduct more and made numerous recordings, mostly of his own music. In 1954, an anonymous critic for ''Opera'' magazine, having attended a performance of Hindemith's '' Neues vom Tage'', wrote, "Mr Hindemith is no virtuoso conductor, but he does possess an extraordinary knack of making performers understand how his own music is supposed to go". HindemithWihuri

Hindemith received the Wihuri Sibelius Prize in 1955. He was awarded the

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...

in 1962 "for the wealth, extent and variety of his work, which is among the most valid in contemporary music, and which contains masterpieces of opera, symphonic and chamber music." Despite a prolonged decline in his physical health, Hindemith composed almost until his death. He died in Frankfurt from pancreatitis aged 68. He is buried in Cimetière La Chiésaz, La Chiésaz, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

Music

Hindemith is among the most significant German composers of his time. His early works are in a late

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

idiom, and he later produced expressionist works, rather in the style of the early

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

, before developing a leaner,

contrapuntally In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

complex style in the 1920s. This style has been described as neoclassical, but is quite different from the works by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

labeled with that term, owing more to the contrapuntal language of Johann Sebastian Bach and

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

than the Classical clarity of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

. The new style can be heard in the series of works called '' Kammermusik'' (Chamber Music) from 1922 to 1927. Each of these pieces is written for a different small instrumental ensemble, many of them very unusual. '' Kammermusik No. 6'', for example, 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 the viola d'amore, an instrument that has not been in wide use since the

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period, but which Hindemith himself played. He continued to write for unusual groups of instruments throughout his life, producing a trio for viola, heckelphone and piano (1928), 7 trios for 3 trautoniums (1930), a

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

for double bass and a

for trumpet,

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

, and strings (both in 1949), for example. Around the 1930s, Hindemith began to write less for chamber groups, and more for large orchestral forces. In 1933–35, Hindemith wrote his opera ''

'', based on the life of the

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Matthias Grünewald. This opera is rarely staged, though a well-known production by the New York City Opera in 1995 was an exception
Holland 1995
. It combines the neo-classicism of earlier works with

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 ...

. As a preliminary stage to the composing of this opera, Hindemith wrote a purely instrumental

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

also called ''

'', which is one of his most frequently performed works. In the opera, some portions of the symphony appear as instrumental interludes, others were elaborated in vocal scenes. Hindemith wrote '' Gebrauchsmusik'' (Music for Use)—compositions intended to have a social or political purpose and sometimes written to be played by amateurs. The concept was inspired by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

. An example of this is his '' Trauermusik'' (Funeral Music), written in January 1936. Hindemith was preparing the London premiere of '' Der Schwanendreher'' when he heard news of the death of George V. He quickly wrote this piece for solo viola and string orchestra in tribute to the late king, and the premiere was given that same evening, the day after the king's death. Other examples of Hindemith's Gebrauchsmusik include: * the ''Plöner Musiktage'' (1932): a series of pieces designed for a day of community music making open to all inhabitants of the city of Plön, culminating in an evening concert by grammar school students and teachers. * a Scherzo for viola and cello (1934), written in several hours during a series of recording sessions as a "filler" for an unexpected blank side of a 78 rpm album, and recorded immediately upon its completion. * ''Wir bauen eine Stadt'' ("We’re Building a City"), an opera for eight-year-olds (1930). Hindemith's most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is probably the ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'', written in 1943. It takes melodies from various works by

Weber Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'. Notable pe ...

, mainly piano duets, but also one from the overture to his

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

for '' Turandot'' (Op. 37/J. 75), and transforms and adapts them so that each movement of the piece is based on one theme. In 1951, Hindemith completed his '' Symphony in B-flat''. Scored for

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

, it was written for the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own". Hindemith premiered it with that band on 5 April of that year. Its second performance took place under the baton of Hugh McMillan, conducting the Boulder Symphonic Band at the University of Colorado. The piece is representative of his late works, exhibiting strong contrapuntal lines throughout, and is a cornerstone of the band repertoire. Hindemith recorded it in stereo with members of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

for EMI in 1956.

Awards and Honors

* Howland Memorial Prize (1940), (highest honour awarded by Yale University) * Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1940) * Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (1951) * Order Pour le Mérite (1952) * Wihuri Sibelius Prize (1955) * Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt (1955) * Elected to the American Philosophical Society (1962) *

(1963)

Honorary doctorates

* Philadelphia Academy of Music (1945) * Columbia University (1948) *

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

(1949) * FU Berlin (1950) * Oxford University (1954)

Works

Pedagogical writings

His complete set of instructional books (in possible educational order) # ''Elementary Training for Musicians'' () 1946 # ''A Concentrated Course in Traditional Harmony'': Book 1, Part 1—With Emphasis on Exercises and a Minimum of Rules, revised edition () New York: Schott Music, 1968 # ''A Concentrated Course in Traditional Harmony'': Book 2—Exercises for Advanced Students, translated by Arthur Mendel. () New York: Schott, 1964 # ''The Craft of Musical Composition: Book 1—Theoretical Part'', translated by Arthur Mendel (London: Schott & Co; New York: Associated Music Publishers. ), 194

# ''The Craft of Musical Composition: Book 2—Exercises in Two-Part Writing'', translated by Otto Ortmann. (London: Schott & Co; New York: Associated Music Publishers. ) 1941 # ''Unterweisung im Tonsatz 3: Übungsbuch für den dreistimmigen Satz'' he Craft of Musical Composition: Book 3—Exercises in Three-part Writing Mainz: Schott 5205, , 251 pages. 1970. Only available in the original German.

Notable students

Recordings

Hindemith was a prolific composer. He conducted some of his own music in a series of recordings for EMI with the

and for Deutsche Grammophon with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which have been digitally remastered and released on CD. The Violin Concerto was also recorded by Hindemith for Decca/London, with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra with David Oistrakh as soloist. Everest Records issued a recording of Hindemith's postwar '' When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'' ("A Requiem for Those We Love") on LP, conducted by Hindemith. A stereo recording of Hindemith conducting the requiem with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with Louise Parker and George London as soloists, was made for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1963 and later issued on CD. He also appeared on television as a guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's nationally syndicated "Music from Chicago" series; the performances have been released by VAI on home video. A complete orchestral music collection has been recorded by German and Australian orchestras, all released on the CPO label, recordings all conducted by Werner Andreas Albert.

Hindemithon Festival

An annual festival of Hindemith's music is held at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. It features student, staff, and professional musicians performing a range of Hindemith's works.

Media

References

Notes

Sources

* Ansermet, Ernest. 1961. ''Les fondements de la musique dans la conscience humaine''. 2 v. Neuchâtel: La Baconnière. * Briner, Andres. 1971. ''Paul Hindemith''. Zürich: Atlantis-Verlag; Mainz: Schott. * Bruhn, Siglind (1998). ''The Temptation of Paul Hindemith. Mathis der Maler as a Spiritual Testimony''. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press. . *Bruhn, Siglind. 2000. ''Musical Ekphrasis in Rilke's Marienleben''. Internationale Forschungen zur allgemeinen und vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft 47. Amsterdam: Rodopi. . *Bruhn, Siglind. 2005. ''The Musical Order of the World: Kepler, Hesse, Hindemith''. Interplay, no. 4. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. . *Davenport, LaNoue. 1970.
"Erich Katz: A Profile"
. ''The American Recorder'' (Spring): 43–44. Retrieved 2 November 2011. * Furtwängler, Wilhelm. 1934. "Der Fall Hindemith". ''Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' 73, no. 551 (Sunday, 25 November): 1. Reprinted in

Berta Geissmar Berta Geissmar (14 September 1892 Mannheim – 3 November 1949 London) was the secretary and business manager for two prominent orchestral conductors, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Sir Thomas Beecham. From 1922 until 1935, Geissmar worked for th ...

, ''Musik im Schatten der Politik''. Zürich: Atlantis, 1945. Reprinted in Wilhelm Furtwängler, ''Ton und Wort: Aufsätze und Vorträge 1918 bis 1954'', 91–96. Wiesbaden: F.A. Brockhaus, 1954; reissued Zürich: Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1994. . English version as "The Hindemith Case", in Wilhelm Furtwängler, ''Furtwängler on Music'', edited and translated by Ronald Taylor, 117–20. Aldershot, Hants.: Scolar Press, 1991. . * Eaglefield-Hull, Arthur. (Ed.). 1924. ''A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians''. London: Dent. * Hindemith, Paul. 1937–70. ''Unterweisung im Tonsatz''. 3 vols. Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne. First two volumes in English, as ''The Craft of Musical Composition'', translated by Arthur Mendel and Otto Ortmann. New York: Associated Music Publishers; London: Schott & Co., 1941–42. * Hindemith, Paul. 1952. ''A Composer's World, Horizons and Limitations''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. * Holland, Bernard. 1995.
Music Review; City Opera Gamely Flirts with Danger
. ''New York Times'', 9 September. * Kater, Michael H. 1997. ''The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich''. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Kater, Michael H. 2000. ''Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits''. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Kemp, Ian. 1970. ''Hindemith''. Oxford Studies of Composers 6. London, New York: Oxford University Press. * Neumeyer, David. 1986. ''The Music of Paul Hindemith.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. * Noss, Luther. 1989. ''Paul Hindemith in the United States''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. * Preussner, Eberhard. 1984. ''Paul Hindemith: ein Lebensbild''. Innsbruck: Edition Helbling. * Skelton, Geoffrey. 1975. ''Paul Hindemith: The Man Behind the Music: A Biography''. London: Gollancz. * Taylor, Ronald. 1997. ''Berlin and Its Culture: A Historical Portrait''. Yale University Press. . * Taylor-Jay, Claire. 2004. ''The Artist-Operas of Pfitzner, Krenek and Hindemith: Politics and the Ideology of the Artist''. Aldershot: Ashgate.

External links

Paul Hindemith Oral History collection
at Oral History of American Music *
Hindemith FoundationHindemith Foundation Catalogue of WorksSchott Music
Publisher page

notes on Hindemith and Der Schwanendreher by Ron Drummond
Paul Hindemith in conversation with Seymour Raven (7 April 1963)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindemith, Paul 1895 births 1963 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German composers Ballet composers Composers for viola Deaths from pancreatitis German classical violists German male conductors (music) German Army personnel of World War I German expatriates in Turkey German Lutherans German male classical composers German opera composers Harvard University faculty Hoch Conservatory alumni Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Male opera composers Neoclassical composers People from Hesse-Nassau Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Pupils of Bernhard Sekles Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Yale School of Music faculty 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century violists Members of the American Philosophical Society