JAVS Fall 2012

emigration and longing for his homeland could per haps have remained undetected. It is unknown whether the Nazis understood the implications in this work, although perhaps their refusal to premiere the concerto in Germany provides the answer to this question. As mentioned earlier in the article, Hindemith did offer the premiere to the then Nazi influenced conductor Furtwängler. Figure 1 . The folksong and text from F. M. Böhme that served as the basis for Der Schwanendreher , movt. I, “ Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal .” 21

The folksong is in the Dorian mode and character ized by four phrases, although each has a rather unusual constitution and construction (five, eight, six, and eight beats). Hindemith moved the first note of the fourth phrase up a tone (mm. 11–33). The solitary opening lines from the solo viola seem to mirror the words from the first verse. It is as if Hindemith was trying to explain to his audiences that his beloved homeland no longer wanted him and was forced to set him free. This initial statement from the solo viola is continued by the noble folk song melody portrayed as a funeral march. The con text of the second verse is simpler, and the music moves along with a little more momentum. The folksong reappears in a more optimistic setting. The formal structure of this movement is unusual with the epic, slow opening exposition following into a seemingly conventional sonata-form main section marked Mäßig bewegt, mit Kraft . The return of the second subject in this movement is situated at the start of the recapitulation, with the material from the opening of the exposition placed where the second subject would usually appear. This opening solo viola lament announcing a latent recapitulation quickly evolves into the Coda. This theory could perhaps be reversed if one realizes that Hindemith sketched the opening after having written the entire Mäßig bewegt section, therefore imagining the opening as the sec ond subject in Hindemith’s original conception. Figure 2 reveals Hindemith’s handwritten markings in the score he sent to Willem Mengelberg for the pre miere of Der Schwanendreher on November 14, 1935. In the Langsam opening he indicates quarter note = 60–72–76 (double underlining the 72) and marks throughout this introduction where 60 and 72–66 should be used (see letter A at the bottom of the page). Hindemith’s reference to Trauermarsch and the kurz in trammel (short in drum) reiterate the feel of a funeral march. It is perhaps noteworthy that Hindemith at times notated his metronome markings from quicker to slower instead of the more common practice of slower to quicker, e.g., 72–66 or as seen later 108–104; a practice he used in several places in this score. Perhaps this was his way of ensuring stead ier tempi from Mengelberg’s conducting!

Between the mountain and the deep valley leads a free road. She who doesn’t want her beloved must let him go. Farewell, farewell! you have the choice; I can’t stop you. In a year there are many long days; happiness is in every street. 22

Thematic material is brilliantly constructed with the nostalgic folksong melody used in a solemn fashion in the slow opening played by horns and trombones. The viola never has the complete folksong melody in its original form, although the thematic material is clearly audible as it is weaved and intertwined within different rhythmic motifs and phrase lengths. Hindemith’s shrewd orchestration, eliminating vio lins and violas from the texture (which he had also done with his two earlier viola concertos), was a stroke of genius allowing the solo viola line to pene trate without effort.

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