Hindemith: Complete Works for Violin & Piano

Featuring

Roman Mints
Alexander Kobrin
Paul Hindemith

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Composition History

Hindemith composed his Trauermusik (Mourning Music) in just six hours for a broadcast after a concert was cancelled due to the death of King George V.

Composition History

While serving in the army during World War I, Hindemith conceived the idea of collecting instrumental sonatas under a single Opus number, a practice harking back to the Classical period.

Composer Biography

Hindemith's music, including his opera Mathis der Maler, was denounced as degenerate and un-German by Joseph Goebbels under the Nazi regime.

Composer Biography

Paul Hindemith, the composer, was a virtuoso violinist who became Konzertmeister of the local Opera Orchestra at just 19 years old.

Critical Reception

Hindemith's Viola d'amore Sonata, Op. 25 No. 2, upset its first audiences with its use of polytonality, polyrhythm, and sarcastic tone, often eliciting derision from conservative listeners.

Compositional Technique

Hindemith taught himself to play the archaic viola d'amore, an instrument he rediscovered, in just a couple of months before composing a virtuosic sonata for it.