Paul Hindemith - Symphonia Serena (1946)

Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 - 28 December 1963) was a prolific German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. In the 1920s, he became a major advocate of the Neue Sachlichkeit (new objectivity) style of music. Notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923), Der Schwanendreher for viola and orchestra (1935), and opera Mathis der Maler (1938). Hindemith's most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is likely the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943.
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Symphonia Serena (1946)
Dedication: Dallas Symphony Orchestra
1. Moderately Fast (0:00)
2. Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven: Paraphrase (Wind instruments only) Rather fast (9:28)
3. Colloquy: String Orchestra in Two Sections; Quiet (12:53)
4. Finale: Gay (21:30)
BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier
Description by Mark Satola [-]
Like much of Hindemith's music written after World War II, the Symphonia Serena (1946) combines a new preoccupation with intensely chromatic counterpoint with a wry sense of humor, a feature largely dormant in the composer's music since his departure from Germany in the 1930s. As might be expected from a composer whose own instrumental expertise fostered a special affinity with performers, Hindemith also filled his score with a multitude of felicities that could be counted on to delight players and listeners alike: witty parody, ingenious instrumental combinations, and different simultaneous tempi.
The opening movement, marked "Moderately fast," presents an appropriately serene, motto-like theme in the horns against celestial-sounding strings; a pastoral, plangent second subject appears in counterpoint in the woodwinds. The movement proceeds much like a set of variations, employing mostly the second subject in a series of episodes that highlight various sections and individual instruments of the orchestra. Particularly outstanding is the wistful treatment of the second theme by the solo violin, accompanied by chordal woodwinds, which builds to a fine contrapuntal climax at the re-entry of the first theme. There follows a remarkable sequence, again utilizing the endlessly pliable second theme on English horn and piccolo, accompanied by pizzicato strings and tuned woodblocks. The movement ends with a fugal episode that culminates in a brass-heavy peroration of the opening motto.
A miniature military march by Beethoven, the "Yorck'sche Marsch," is the thematic basis for the second movement, "Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven." This scherzo is scored entirely for winds and brass. Chattering woodwinds create a shifting chromatic background for fragments of Beethoven's theme, stuttered out amusingly by horns and tuba. A trio section presents the same theme in irregular chordal phrases, with woodwinds imitating the reedy drone of bagpipes. The return of the main section presents Beethoven's march theme in its entirety, with the same élan and harmonic abandon that Hindemith employed twenty-five years earlier in his orchestral jazz parody Ragtime (Well-Tempered).
The third movement, "Colloquy," is an ingenious interlocking puzzle consisting of three sections, the third section a superimposition of the first two. The sections are divided by two mirror-like cadenza sequences, each featuring a dialogue between an onstage and an offstage solo instrument. Where the second movement featured winds with some percussion underpinning, "Colloquy" is scored for strings alone, divided into two groups. The first section presents chorale-like material played divisi and arco by the first string group. A cadenza for solo violin, echoed by an offstage violin, leads to the middle section, played pizzicato by the second string group. In a reversal of the previous cadenza sequence, the second cadenza features an offstage solo viola answered by its onstage colleague before the two solo violins return and usher in the final section of the movement. Here, the arco and pizzicato sections run simultaneously, providing both a striking surprise and a satisfying conclusion to this sophisticated hall of mirrors.
The entire orchestra is reunited for the finale, marked "Gay." The movement's unusually wide-ranging theme is first heard in the solo clarinet. The whirlwind interplay of this and subsequent themes results in one of Hindemith's most complex essays. During the ten or so minutes that conclude the Symphonia Serena, the sections and first-desk players are called upon to create a tricky contrapuntal web that climaxes, appropriately, with a return of the symphony's opening horn theme and a lengthy, complex coda that features the clarinet theme and one characterized by an insistently repeated note. The work ends with a bold fanfare.
The Symphonia Serena was premiered on February 2, 1947, by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra directed by Antal Dorati.

[@muslit]

This symphony should be played more often.

[@carlose.johansson739]

Very beautiful symphony!🎼🎶🎶🎶💐

[@OisirM]

I have to admit, I was never that fond of Hindemith and I still feel unmoved by many of his works, but this is certainly a pleasant exception. Normally my complaint towards him is his reluctance to coherently tie his moments of beauty together, but here the piece can be listened to in practically a single breath, so cohesive and seamlessly flowing it is.

[@markpatterson6104]

serena is magnificent, psychedelic, other worldly, paul hindemith was truly a wizard of music, beyond normal comprehension. i am at your feet master!!

[@samuellam3791]

The way the two halves of the third movement fit together blew my mind when I first discovered this piece and continues to amaze me every hearing. Sadly neglected!

[@AndreyRubtsovRU]

Yeah. What a coinsidence that must've been!

[@windowtrimmer8211]

Hindemith does something similar to spectacular effect in the 2nd movement of the Symphony in B-flat. Two contrasting sections superimposed in the third section.

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Sacré compositeur...

[@LukeFaulkner]

Wow... this is exquisite!

[@steveegallo3384]

True....also Spellbinding!

[@lisak1355]

Love the transition at 5:54! Amazing piece!

[@kniazigor2276]

Hindemith devrait être beaucoup plus connu !

[@theunknownrepertoire2425]

1. Moderately Fast (0:00)
2. Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven: Paraphrase (Wind instruments only) Rather fast (9:28)
3. Colloquy: String Orchestra in Two Sections: Quiet (12:53)
4. Finale: Gay (21:30)
Great description by the way, you have a new sub :)

[@francescoborghini7669]

Opera esemplare di quel ribollente periodo detto neoclassicismo!!...
Eppure, nonostante i molti meriti di questi artisti e di questa stagione, rimango sinceramente dispiaciuto nel non riuscir mai a trovare, al fondo di queste elaborate prove, un sentimento potente come avviene negli espressionisti (anche di seconda o terza generazione) o nei contemporanei russi (neoclassici anche loro?)...

[@BlueMeeple]

Ugh, those time signature! I'm sure I would have played an extra b natural every now and then. :D

[@robbyr9286]

4:47-4:50 foreshadowing 'Inna-Gadda-Da Vida'!

[@rondorondo557]

27:43, heavenly.

[@erqu93]

12:06 Beethoven, military march

[@charlessherman526]

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