Hindemith's 'Kammermusik' No. 4

Synopsis

In the 1920s, German composer Paul Hindemith wrote a set of seven concertos, which he collectively titled Kammermusik or Chamber Music. This generic title was part of Hindemith’s goal to foster a more “objective” musical style, modeled on 18th century composers like J.S. Bach.

Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 4, a work for solo violin and chamber orchestra, had its first performance in Dessau on today’s date in 1925. The soloist was Licco Amar, the first violinist of the Amar String Quartet, an ensemble in which Hindemith played viola.

Hindemith’s father had been killed in World War I, and Hindemith himself had been called up, but avoided being sent to the front by forming a string quartet that played nightly to ease the nerves of his commanding officer. Then during the World War II, despite being considered a so-called “Aryan” composer, Hindemith fell out of favor with the Nazi regime and eventually emigrated to America, where he became a very influential teacher.

To address the role of music in society, Hindemith suggested composers should revive the idea of writing works amateur musicians could play at home with family and friends.

“People who make music together cannot be enemies,” he observed, “at least while the music lasts.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963): Kammermusik No. 4; Konstanty Kulka, violin; Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor; London 433 816

On This Day

Births

• 1683 - French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, in Dijon

• 1862 - French organist and composer Léon Boëllmann, in Ensisheim, Alsace

• 1896 - Catalonian-born British composer Roberto Gerhard, in Valls (near Tarragona, Spain)

• 1906 - Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Sept. 12)

• 1932 - Canadian pianist and occasional composer Glenn Gould, in Toronto

Deaths

• 1849 - Austrian composer Johann Strauss, Sr., 45, in Vienna

• 1916 - Czech band composer Julius Fucik, 44, in Leitmeritz. He composed the famous circus march Entrance of the Gladiators.

• 1997 - French composer and pianist Jean Françaix, 85, in Paris. The composer himself has written that his family name is pronounced with the final “x” sounded (as in “Aix-en-Provence”), although it's commonly pronounced “Français” by many.

Premieres

• 1870 - Smetana: opera The Bartered Bride (4th version), in Prague at the Provisional Theater;

• 1907 - Sibelius: Symphony No. 3, in Helsinki, with the composer conducting;

• 1925 - Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 4, in Dessau, Germany, conducted by Franz von Hoesslin, with Licco Amar the violin soloist

• 1936 - R. Vaughan Williams: choral suite Five Tudor Portraits, in Norwich, England, conducted by the composer

• 1960 - Paul Ben-Haim: Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, in Tel Aviv

• 1962 - Piston: Lincoln Center Festival Overture, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, at the third concert scheduled at the newly opened Philharmonic Hall (now David Geffen Hall) at Lincoln Center in New York City

• 1966 - Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2, in Moscow, by the USSR State Symphony, with Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist and the composer’s son, Maxim, conducting

• 1980 - Bernstein: Divertimento for Orchestra, by the Boston Symphony conducted by Seiji Ozawa

• 1986 - Husa: Concerto for Orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta

• 1997 - John Adams: Piano Concerto (Century Rolls), at Severance Hall, with pianist Emanuel Ax and the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi

Others

• 1966 - On his 60th birthday, Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich is nominated as a Hero of Socialist Labor by the Soviet government