User:Mscuthbert/262 2007/Hindemith

I'll put *** around my comments so that they're easier to find. I'LL ALSO USE UPPERCASE, TO MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND BUT I'M REALLY NOT SHOUTING! :) More substantial comments at the end.

Background

- - Give more background:

Symphony in Bb IS A FIFTEEN MINUTE (OR HOWEVER LONG) WORK FOR CONCERT BAND written by Paul Hindemith, an influential German composer known for writing music in a variety of genres

- - tighten up by cutting: including orchestral, opera, chamber, ballet, vocal and many more.

The piece was completed in 1951 and premiered on April 5th of that year by the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" in Washington, D.C. (Morgan 1991).

 *** perhaps link to U.S. Army Band?

Not many composers endeavored to write significant pieces for band; there was no demand or market for them while chamber music, symphony orchestras, operas and ballets were so popular in the late 19th century.

  *** sentence or two here on what was typically written for band at the time?  Cite a history of the band in America?

Arnold Schoenberg and Paul Hindemith were ***AMONG*** the first composers to show the public that music written for band, not just orchestra, could be precise, thematic and beautiful.

  *** I think the Holst Suites for Band also fit this bill.

Symphony in Bb for Band is often called the ***THE? or A?*** 'cornerstone' piece for wind ensemble and is one of the most prominent and widely known pieces composed and arranged for band. What makes Paul Hindemith stand out as a composer for band is his outstanding use of the various instruments that comprise a band. Each instrument's Timbre ***LOWERCASE T***, or sound quality, is different from any other; by changing the instrument playing a melody, the tone color of that melody is different. Hindemith writes the same melody throughout an entire movement with no interval ***INTERVALLIC*** or rhythmic changes, yet it seems like a different melody with each separate set of instruments that play it. The tone color of a melody can also be significantly changed by the amount of instruments playing; for example, the solo oboe playing the second theme in movement one sounds significantly different than the full clarinet section playing it a few bars later.

Paul Hindemith often employed the concept of gebrauchmusik, ***CAPITAL G -- THERE'S ALREADY AN ARTICLE THERE **** or "utility music" to his compositions. He believed that every piece of music composed should have a social or political purpose. In writing Symphony in Bb For Band, Hindemith created one of the first important wind pieces in history, adding an important facet to the wide variety of orchestral music already in existence.

  *** This is a great paragraph!  A good way of linking two important concepts together! Excellent!

Instrumentation

Symphony in Bb for Band is scored for:

  *** I made it a table, just for aesthetics...

Woodwinds

Brass

Strings

Bass

Percussion

Each instrument plays an integral role in the musical progression of the symphony.

  *** it might be nice to have the clarinets, cornets, etc. broken out into "Solo Cornets, 1st Cornets, etc." and use Plural on instruments that there were probably multiple of.  No Tuba?

Analysis

Although a symphony is traditionally a piece for large orchestra in four movements, or subdivisions of the larger composition, Symphony in Bb for Band consists of only three movements. Symphonies generally follow a formula in which the first movement is fast, the second slow, the third a minuet or other dance-like style, and the fourth fast. Hindemith's symphony follows the same basic formula with a few modifications. The first movement is moderately fast, the second begins slow but changes tempo, and the third is fast. As musical techniques developed throughout the years, musical form became more loosely defined and subject to change and interpretation.

Due to Hindemith's ability to compose in a variety of different musical styles, Symphony in Bb for Band contains parts that are representative of a big-band piece and other parts that are more chamber-like in style. An example of the latter would be half way through the third movement where the instrumental voices are few and soloistic. Because each instrument is so exposed and featured at least once throughout the symphony, masterful musicianship and balance is required to breathe life into the piece.

    *** Excellent Writing!

Movement 1 - Moderately Fast, With Vigor

Movement one begins with solo cornet***PROBABLY MORE THAN ONE. SOLO CORNET AND SOLO CLARINET ARE MISNAMED: THERE WERE USUALLY 2-3*** accompanied by trumpet on a vigorous main theme. The melody is colored by the high woodwinds playing rapid strings of notes. The clarinets are playing triplets, or sets of three notes, while the flute and piccolo are playing sets of four notes. The rhythm of two and the rhythm of three played against each other is effective at creating tension in the music, and is a trend throughout the entire symphony. This technique was often used by Johannes Brahms, who influenced Hindemith's music along with Arnold Schoenberg and Bach.

  *** GOOD!  IT'D BE REALLY GREAT TO HAVE A SCORE OR LISTENING EXAMPLE HERE.  It always sounds like a "cloud" of notes to me in the woodwinds.

The second theme begins***AT MEASURE X*** with solo oboe and is reiterated by tenor saxophone, bassoon and clarinet separately. The number of instruments playing fragments of the theme starts to build as the piece progresses along with the dynamics. ***LATER, AT MEASURE X***, A third more fluid, ominous theme in the woodwinds surfaces afterwards with a strong counter melody ***measure X**** in the brass.

  *** Again, musical examples would be great, so we know exactly what the theme is.  
  *** There's a great moment in instrumentation and orchestration when the brass counter melody comes in: Hindemith uses the E-flat clarinet and piccolo with the brass rather than with the woodwinds.  It's as if he's saying that their loud, piercing nature is more brass-like than like the mellow woodwinds, and since there are no brass instruments in their registers, he moves these winds over.

   *** What happens after the third theme?  Does the first theme come back?  What about the second?  etc.,  it'd be great to have a listening guide to the rest of the movement.

The piece is written in the key of Bb; however, it modulates between keys throughout the symphony. ***including many sections where the key, if any, is highly ambiguous***. The piece does end on a sonorous Bb major chord after a climactic unison run of notes, which gives the movement a satisfying conclusion.

  *** excellent.

Movement 2 - Andantino Grazioso

This movement begins slower and softer than the first and third (***can you phrase this better***); however, the solo cornet opens this movement as well, which gives the movement a linking tone color to the first movement at the beginning ***alternating with alto sax, right?***. The use of vibrato in the brass and woodwinds gives the piece a more virtuosic feeling throughout.

  *** the time signature should also be mentioned -- it's a triple time piece.

Before the halfway point(, ***at measure X***), the tempo and overall feel of the piece abruptly changes. ***It's a new theme right? New orchestration***. Added trills and turns in the music give the piece a more ornamented and whimsical feel. The low brass enters with a fanfare soon after the shift to bring the piece back to its original tempo and feeling. (***Note also the moment when the 1st movement theme comes back; I think the movement is in three parts: part 1 slow; part 2 faster; part 3 is the slow and fast part at the same time).

The piece ends with a run of notes that decrescendo from mezzo piano to piano, which is a soft ending compared to the first movement. The higher voices end the piece to eliminate the heavy timbres of the low brass and woodwinds from the airy ending.

Movement 3 - Fugue

Movement three of Symphony in Bb for Band is a fugue. A fugue is a polyphonic composition based around two or more themes that jump between several instruments. Hindemith's fugue was influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach's contrapuntal style. Counterpoint, or the act of having two or more melodies played at once that sound good together, is an essential part of the character of the piece. The main theme of the fugue never ceases; it is constantly being played throughout the piece, at least in fragments, by each of the different instruments.

At the climax of the movement, the trumpets and trombones enter with the main theme from movement one slowed down; this is played top of the main theme of the third movement on French horn, alto saxophone and clarinet. Meanwhile, the bass clarinet, bassoon, baritone saxophone and bass are playing the second theme from the third movement. All of these themes on top of each other combined with the different textures of the instruments builds the sound to a roar and a conglomeration of themes from all three movements ends the piece grandly.

  *** good.  see attached sheet ***

Critical Reception

Although most regard Symphony in Bb for Band as an extremely important and influential piece of music, not all agree that it was masterfully executed. Richard Franko Goldman, a music critic in the mid 20th century, called the piece "singularly dead" and composers of music for concert band or wind ensemble "unsophisticated." The notion of a wind ensemble being on the same level as an orchestra was preposterous, as "...the agglomeration of instruments is irrational and exasperating." (***ADD A FOOTNOTE in the version you turn in next week. Oh and "..." is unnecessary at the beginnings or ends of quotations***) The sonorities of a concert band were not commonly heard and enjoyed by the general public and were therefore looked upon as inferior to the smooth sound of strings in an orchestra.

He goes on to lament that the piece falls "between the effort to be popular and obvious, and the intention to remain unsmiling and uncorrupted."

Trivia

The first Boston area performance of Symphony in Bb for Band was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 5, 1951 with conductor John Corley.

  *** ARE YOU SURE THAT DATE IS RIGHT?  It's the same date as the premiere!

Sources

Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth-Century Music. W. W. Norton & Co. New York, NY; 1991.
Hindemith, Paul. Symphony in B flat for Concert Band - Score. Associated Music Publishers, Inc. New York, NY; 1951.
Goldman, Richard Franko. Hindemith: Symphony in B-Flat for Concert Band; Schoenberg: Theme and Variations, Opus 43 A; Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments - A Review. The Musical Quarterly. Oxford University Press; 1958.

    *** OTHER Sources to consult: there has to be a mention of the work in one of the following books:   	 Selected letters of Paul Hindemith / edited and translated from the German by Geoffrey Skelton.
	   Paul Hindemith in the United States / Luther Noss.

The music of Paul Hindemith / David Neumeyer. Hindemith. / Ian Kemp all of which are in the MIT library. And liner notes for various recordings. You could also add information about the Symphonia serena: Geschwindmarsch, Hindemith's other piece for large wind group.

There's a lot of great information here -- and I think you've dug deeply into the scores. The information you added from the Goldman source is especially good. Can you dive into the books in the Lewis music library and see what they say? If none of them say anything about this piece, then that'd be important to add also. Do you have a source for the MIT performance? Could you add that. I'll also send by email a little better about what I meant for the chart of where things happen in the fugue. Good work!