JAVS Fall 2012

his viola concertos in Symphony Hall, Boston, con ducted by Arthur Fiedler. The recording divulges that Hindemith’s tempi in the faster sections were a little quicker than his metronome markings and in slow tempi a little slower. This notion is supported further by Hindemith’s own markings in the score he sent to Willem Mengelberg for the premiere on November 14, 1935, where his handwritten indica tions are also quicker in several sections. This will be discussed in more detail later in the article. Reception of Der Schwanendreher was generally enthusiastic and positive, although quizzical observa tions of Hindemith’s playing style tended to domi nate a few, while the unusual subject matter domi nated in others. Excerpts from a few reviews of per formances in England and the United States from 1937 can be seen below. Hindemith’s undoubted compositional ingenuity was not so much in ques tion in these reviews, but rather his matter-of-fact and at times rough delivery of his own music. Hindemith’s Viola Concertos,” alludes to an occasion almost two hundred years previously in 1737 when Johann Adolph Scheibe made his notorious attack on J. S. Bach, also describing Bach as a “ Musikant ”—a “music-maker,” a mere performer, almost a street musician. Kemp infers that Hindemith may have been aligning himself with Bach, as he did later in a Bach lecture of 1950 or perhaps upholding the hon orable traditions of the performer at the same time when he and so many of his colleagues and friends were forced by the Nazis to seek employment abroad. 16 Hindemith’s preface to the concerto reveals even further layers of meaning: A traveling performer joins a cheerful company of people and presents what he has brought from afar: serious songs and gay songs, ending with a dance. According to his inspiration and ability he extends, decorates, elaborates, and improvises on the old Origins, Folksongs, and Sketches In his preface to Der Schwanendreher , Hindemith indirectly refers to himself as a “ rechter Musikant .” Ian Kemp, in his article “Some Thoughts on

melodies, like a true “musician.” This medieval pic ture was the model for the composition. 17

The reason why Hindemith selected the four folk songs used in the concerto from a possibility of around six hundred in F. M. Böhme’s Altdeutsches Liederbuch 18 is uncertain, although the substance of the texts must surely be what held his attention. These four folksongs reveal a seemingly hidden mes sage about emigration, covering lost love, hope, sur render, provocation, and finally indefatigability. Any flagrant autobiographical references would have been extremely out of character, although the fact that the work was intended for personal use speaks volumes. Perhaps any further personal divulgence of autobio graphical circumstances would have been perilous at the time. before composing Der Schwanendreher , as the melody and text from this folksong appear in a Sketchbook from 1932/1933. An ex-student from Hindemith’s class in Berlin, Silvia Kind, recalled that he had a fascination for using German folksongs as cantus firmi in his classes. Hindemith had set her the task of composing variations for harp and orchestra on the theme for Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal . Kind writes that all of Hindemith’s students at this time were required to have the theme of Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal and Der Gutzgauch auf dem Zaune saß (the tune used in the fugato of the second move ment) at their fingertips. 19 Hindemith’s first movement has the title Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal , although the melody that Hindemith uses appears as no. 163 in Böhme under the title Guter Rath für Liebesleute (Good advice for lovers) (fig. 1). Kemp writes that, “According to Böhme the text and music were first printed com plete in 1541, the music to the first stanza only hav ing been printed in 1512 and the text having been a favourite long before that.” 20 This text is seemingly innocuous, so much so that Hindemith’s theme of It is clear that Hindemith had already discovered the text of Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal several years Movement I

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