Paul Hindemith

20th Century · 1895–1963

Paul Hindemith was a working musician to his bones. Born near Frankfurt in 1895, he earned money as a teenager playing in dance bands and cinema orchestras, became a leading violist, and believed composers should write useful music that performers and amateurs could actually play, not just monuments for the concert hall.

His opera Mathis der Maler, about a Renaissance painter torn between art and political action during a peasants' revolt, ran afoul of the Nazi regime, which attacked his music and drove him from Germany. He settled in the United States and taught for years at Yale, writing sonatas for nearly every instrument in the orchestra along the way, and a widely used textbook on how music works.

Start with the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, his most immediately likable orchestral piece, then the symphony he drew from Mathis der Maler.

149 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.

Chamber

3 Easy Pieces, for cello and piano
3 Pieces for Cello and Piano, op. 8
3 Stucke, op. 8
8 Pieces, for flute
8 Stucke, for flute
A frog he went a-courting, for cello and piano
Alto Horn Sonata
Bassoon Sonata
Cello Sonata, op. 11, no. 3
Cello Sonata, op. 25, no. 3
Cello Sonata in E
Clarinet Sonata in B flat major
Duet for Viola and Cello
Duet for Violin and Clarinet
Duettsatz, for viola and cello
Echo for Flute and Piano
English Horn Sonata
Flute Sonata
Geigenschulwerk, for 2 violins
Harp Sonata
Horn Sonata
Kammermusik no. 1, for 12 instruments, op. 24, no. 1
Kammermusik no. 2, for piano and 12 instruments, op. 36, no. 1
Kammermusik no. 3, for cello and 10 instruments, op. 36, no. 2
Kleine Kammermusik, for wind quintet, op. 24, no. 2
Kleine Sonata, op. 25, no. 2
Konzertmusik for piano, 10 brass instruments, and 2 harps, op. 49
Konzertstück, for 2 alto saxophones
Meditation, for violin
Morgenmusik, for brass ensemble
Oboe Sonata
Octet, for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, 2 violas, cello, and bass
Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano
Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, op. 30
Septet, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet
Sing und Spielmusic für Liebhaber und Musikfreunde for voices and instruments, op. 45, "Music for Use"
Sonata for 4 Horns
Sonata for Solo Viola
String Quartet no. 1 in C major, op. 2
String Quartet no. 2 in F minor, op. 10
String Quartet no. 3 in C major, op. 16
String Quartet no. 4, op. 22
String Quartet no. 5, op. 32
String Quartet no. 6 in E flat major
String Quartet no. 7 in E flat major
String Trio no. 1, op. 34
String Trio no. 2
Suite franzõsischer tänze, for chamber ensemble
Trio for Heckelphone, Viola, and Piano, op. 47
Trio for Recorders
Trombone Sonata
Trumpet Sonata
Tuba Sonata
Viola Sonata, op. 11, no. 5
Viola Sonata, op. 25, no. 1
Viola Sonata, op. 25, no. 4
Viola Sonata in C
Viola Sonata in F major, op. 11, no. 4
Violin Sonata, op. 31, no. 1
Violin Sonata, op. 31, no. 2, "Es ist so schönes Wetter draussen"
Violin Sonata, op. 31, no. 4
Violin Sonata in C
Violin Sonata in D major, op. 11, no. 2
Violin Sonata in E
Violin Sonata in E flat major, op. 11, no. 1

Keyboard

Ludus tonalis, cycle of 25 pieces for piano
2 Little Pieces
5 Dance Pieces, op. 19
Berceuse
In einer Nacht, 14 short pieces, op. 15
Klaviermusik, op. 37
Lied
Organ Sonata no. 1
Organ Sonata no. 2
Organ Sonata no. 3, "On Old Folksongs"
Piano Sonata, 4 hands
Piano Sonata, op. 17
Piano Sonata no. 1 in A, "Der Main"
Piano Sonata no. 2 in G
Piano Sonata no. 3 in B flat major
Sonata for 2 Pianos
Suite '1922', op. 26
Variations for Piano

Orchestral

Die Harmonie der Welt Symphony
Kammermusik no. 5, for viola and orchestra, op. 36, no. 4
Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Symphony Mathis der Maler
5 Stücke, for String orchestra, op. 44
Amor and Psyche for chamber orchestra
Cello Concerto, op. 3
Clarinet Concerto
Concerto, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, harp, and orchestra
Concerto, for trumpet, bassoon, and string orchestra
Concerto for Orchestra, op. 38
Der Schwanendreher, concerto for viola and small orchestra
Horn Concerto
In Sturm und Eis, film score
Kammermusik no. 6, for viola d'amore and chamber orchestra, op. 46, no. 1
Kammermusik no. 7, for organ and orchestra, op. 46, no. 2
Konzertmusik for brass and strings, op. 50
Konzertmusik for wind orchestra, op. 41
Lustige Sinfonietta, for small orchestra, op. 4
Marsch über den alten 'Schwizerton', for orchestra
Neues vom Tage
Nobilissima visione
Organ Concerto
Philharmonic Concerto: Variations for Orchestra, theme and 6 variations for orchestra
Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, op. 29
Pittsburgh Symphony
Rag Time, for orchestra, op. 20
Sinfonietta in E major, for orchestra
Symphonia Serena
Symphonic Dances
Symphonische Tanze
Symphony in B flat major
Symphony in B flat major, for concert band
Symphony in E flat major
The Lilacs Requiem, prelude for orchestra
Trauermusik, for viola and strings
Tuttifäntchen, for violin and orchestra
Violin Concerto

Stage

Mathis der Maler Opera
Cardillac, opera, op. 39
Das Nusch-Nuschi, ballet opera for marionettes in 1 act, op. 20
Der Dämon, dance-pantomime, op. 28
Hin und zurück, op. 45a Opera
Sancta Susanna,, op. 21 Opera
The 4 Temperaments, for piano and strings Ballet
Tuttifäntchen, Christmas fairy tale in 3 scenes

Vocal

2 Songs on Texts of Brentano, for voice and piano
2 Songs on Texts of Nietzsche, for voice and piano
3 Hymns of Walt Whitman, for baritone and piano, op. 14
3 Songs for soprano and orchestra, op. 9
4 Songs on Texts of Novalis, for voice and piano
4 Songs on Texts of Rückert, for voice and piano
6 Chansons on Poems by Rilke
7 Merry Songs in the Aargau Dialect, for voice and piano, op. 5
8 Songs, for soprano voice and piano, op. 18
12 Madrigals, for chorus
25 Songs, for soprano and piano
Apparebit repentina dies, for chorus and 10 brass instruments
Das Marienleben, song cycle for soprano and piano, op. 27
Der Gutzgauch auf dem Zaune saá
Der Tod: Er erschreckte uns, unser Retter
Die Junge Magd, song cycle for alto, flute, clarinet, and string quartet, op. 23b
Lieder nach alten Texten, for chorus, op. 33
Mass, for male and female chorus
Sing on There in the Swamp, for voice and piano

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