Today is the birthday of the composer Paul Hindemith, who was born near Frankfurt, Germany, in 1895. Hindemith originally trained as a violinist and violist, and as a young man he enjoyed a very successful performing career. But it was as a composer that he achieved lasting fame, eventually writing hundreds of pieces, from operas to string quartets to songs to sonatas for every conceivable instrument.
It seems like a paradox, but Hindemith was a perfectly typical 20th-century composer in that his music doesn’t sound like anybody else’s. In the new absence of old rules, Hindemith’s response was to create his own musical language and style. It was a style that could be exceedingly lyrical and beautiful, especially in his early works, but also angular, harsh, and even violent. Hindemith was a great teacher and a brilliant man, and if you can get hold of a copy of his book, “A Composer’s World,” I think you’ll find it fascinating.
This has been A Minute with Miles – a production of South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the J.M. Smith Corporation.
