Hindemith Violin Concerto

December 3, 2025, 1:33 AM · Almost all of Hindemith's work has fallen out of the repertoire, at least outside of German-speaking lands. Can you lead a reassessment, Raymond?

December 3, 2025, 2:20 AM · Didn't even know he wrote one. It seems it has been overshadowed by Der Schwanendreher for viola as well as Symphonic Metamorphosis which also doesn't seem to be programmed all that often.

December 3, 2025, 3:26 AM · You have at least prompted me to listen to the piece for the first time in ages. The work has its moments and David Oistrakh is phenomenal but I don't feel inclined to repeat the experience very soon.

Edited: December 3, 2025, 4:39 AM · I used to play a Hindemith piece on the oboe when I was 18 or 19 and liked it, but then I heard it on the radio 20 years later and thought "yuck". I felt the same when I was playing a Hindemith piece on the violin a few years back. I guess his flavour is out of favour. That had happened to Chopin in France by the end of the 19th century, the end notes in my copy of a la recherche du temps perdu tell me, so if it's possible with Chopin, it's possible with Hindemith.

December 3, 2025, 5:48 AM · His viola piece is certainly programmed far less than the Bartok or Walton at least here in the UK.

December 3, 2025, 7:02 AM · I think part of the problem is that most of Hindemith's music is not really accessible to the average concert goer. So no one programs it or plays it on classical radio. Same with Schoenberg and Webern. You have to realize that the average audience member does not have the sophistication of most v.commers. They won't go to hear music that they think they are not likely to enjoy.

Edited: December 3, 2025, 11:32 AM · Regarding Hindemith: as a violist, I looked at a lot of his music but found it difficult to appreciate. Recently I really enjoyed listening to Julia Fischer play the 3rd movement of op 11, #6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIl4yOeX_Q

(The rest of the sonata is also available on youTube).

I discovered I very much likes the op 11 #1/2 violin piano sonatas - very lyrical, while still stretching the edges of harmony. I should give a listen to the other sonatas in op 11, I think.

Edited: December 3, 2025, 5:07 PM · I agree with Tom Holzman. Hindemeth is probably the epitome of a 20th-century composer who aimed at the listeners' brains rather than their hearts. He was in good company as Tom mentioned. In his piano works, there is a collection called "Ludus Tonalis" which has a praeludium that is inverted and backwards from the postludium, for example. That's maybe a clever idea, intellectually, but in the grand scheme of things not really THAT clever, and but musically it's worthless. Hindemith's solo sonata for violin is something one endures.

December 3, 2025, 5:42 PM · An old musicologist's joke is that Wagner's music is better than it sounds, but perhaps the joke is better suited to Hindemith.