Symphony in B-flat for Band (Hindemith)

Last updated

Symphony in B-flat for Band was written by the German composer Paul Hindemith in 1951. It was premiered on April 5 of that year by the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" with the composer conducting. [1]

Contents

Instrumentation

The Symphony is scored for:

The contrapuntal textures used by Hindemith throughout the symphony highlight many instruments individually. This writing takes advantage of the vast color palette that this combination of instruments offers. [2]

Critical reception

Richard Franko Goldman, a bandmaster himself and a music critic of the mid-20th century, called the piece "singularly dead". He states that composing for band is difficult because "the agglomeration of instruments is irrational and exasperating". He previously lamented that the piece falls "between the effort to be popular and obvious, and the intention to remain unsmiling and uncorrupted". [3]

Performances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musical ensemble</span> Instrumental and/or vocal music group

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hindemith</span> German composer (1895–1963)

Paul Hindemith was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the Neue Sachlichkeit style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as Kammermusik, including works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. Other notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923), Der Schwanendreher for viola and orchestra (1935), the opera Mathis der Maler (1938), the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943), and the oratorio When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (1946), a requiem based on Walt Whitman's poem. Hindemith and his wife emigrated to Switzerland and the United States ahead of World War II, after worsening difficulties with the Nazi German regime. In his later years, he conducted and recorded much of his own music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarrusophone</span> Family of metal double-reed wind instruments

The sarrusophones are a family of metal double reed conical bore woodwind instruments patented and first manufactured by French instrument maker Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. Gautrot named the sarrusophone after French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus (1813–1876), whom he credited with the concept of the instrument, though it is not clear whether Sarrus benefited financially. The instruments were intended for military bands, to serve as replacements for oboes and bassoons which at the time lacked the carrying power required for outdoor marching music. Although originally designed as double-reed instruments, single-reed mouthpieces were later developed for use with the larger bass and contrabass sarrusophones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concert band</span> Performing ensemble

A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments, and occasionally including the harp, double bass, or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional, non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar.

A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit.

Chorale and Shaker Dance is a musical composition for concert band composed by John Zdechlik. It is a standard part of concert band literature, and it is frequently performed by student ensembles.

Bernhard Heiden was a German and American composer and music teacher, who studied under and was heavily influenced by Paul Hindemith. Bernhard Heiden, the son of Ernst Levi and Martha (Heiden-Heimer) was originally named Bernhard Levi, but he later changed his name.

John Mackey is an American composer of contemporary classical music, with an emphasis on music for wind band, as well as orchestra. For several years, he focused on music for modern dance and ballet.

Werner Wolf Glaser was a German-born Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music critic, and poet.

<i>Colonial Song</i>

Colonial Song is a musical composition written by Australian composer Percy Grainger. Although Grainger created versions for different types of musical ensembles, its most commonly used version today is for concert band.

Suite of Old American Dances is a 1949 concert band work by Robert Russell Bennett. Chappell Music published the condensed score and parts in 1952. This score gives the overall duration of its five movements as 16:30. Hal Leonard Corp. published a full-score edition, prepared by Edward Higgins, c. 1999. The numerous commercial and archival recordings of the piece since the 1950s provide a measure of its popularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodwind section</span> Section of orchestra or concert band

The woodwind section, which consists of woodwind instruments, is one of the main sections of an orchestra or concert band. Woodwind sections contain instruments given Hornbostel-Sachs classifications of 421 and 422, but exclude 423

Frank Bencriscutto, nicknamed "Dr. Ben," was an American conductor and composer of concert band music. Bencriscutto was Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota for thirty-two years.

Clare (Ewing) Grundman was an American composer and arranger.

Raise the Roof is a one-movement concerto for timpani and orchestra by the American composer Michael Daugherty. The work was commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the Max M. Fisher Music Center. It was premiered in Detroit, October 16, 2003, with conductor Neeme Järvi leading the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and timpanist Brian Jones. Daugherty later arranged the piece for concert band in 2007; this arrangement was commissioned by the University of Michigan Symphony Band and was premiered under conductor Michael Haithcock at the National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association on March 30, 2007. Raise the Roof is one of Daugherty's most-programmed pieces and has been frequently performed as a concert opener since its publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friedrich Schenker</span> German composer (1942–2013)

Friedrich Schenker was a German avant-garde composer and trombone player.

<i>Klaviermusik mit Orchester</i> 1923 piano concerto by Paul Hindemith

Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29, is a 1923 piano concerto by Paul Hindemith. Subtitled Klavier nur linke Hand, it is a piano concerto for the left hand alone. It was commissioned by the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in the World War. He never played the piece, and when he died, his widow refused access to the score. The premiere, after her death, was played in Berlin in 2004, with Leon Fleisher as the soloist and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle. It was published by Schott.

References

  1. Miles, Richard, Larry Blocher, Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Ray Cramer, Tim Lautzenheiser, and Edward S. Lisk. 2010. Teaching Music through Performance in Band, Volume 1, second edition. [S.l.]: GIA Publications. p. 953. ISBN   978-1-57999-788-5.
  2. Sharp, Chris. 2011. "A Study of Orchestration Techniques for the Wind Ensemble/Wind Band as Demonstrated in Seminal Works". PhD diss. Gainesville: University of Florida (accessed 25 April 2016). p. 212.
  3. Goldman, Richard Franko. 1958. [Untitled record review of Hindemith, Symphony in B-Flat for Concert Band; Schoenberg, Theme and Variations, Opus 43 A; Stravinsky, Symphonies of Wind Instruments. Eastman Symphonic Wind Ensemble, cond. Frederick Fennell. 12" LP. Mercury MG 50143]. The Musical Quarterly 44, no. 1 (January):126–128. pp. 127–8.
  4. MIT Concert Band. 2007. "MIT Concert Band, Director: Thomas Reynolds; Assistant Conductor: Stephen Babineau. Winter Concert, Saturday, December 15, 2007, 8:00pm, Kresge Auditorium". MIT Concert Band website (accessed 14 May 2014).

Further reading