Paul Hindemith - Flute Sonata(1936)(with full score)

Mov.1: Heiter bewegt 00:05
Mov.2: Sehr langsam 04:38
Mov.3: Sehr lebhaft 08:56
Fl. Paul Michell
Pf. Monika Laczofy
While the music of certain twentieth century composers often reflected personal or political problems -- Shostakovich comes prominently to mind here -- Hindemith's compositions rarely reflected any of the troubles that often plagued his life. That said, this piece, written in Nazi Germany in 1936, two years before Hindemith fled to Switzerland, is a mostly upbeat work, but its darker undercurrents and bouts of melancholy might well reflect the turmoil in the composer's homeland. "If in the next days you receive flute sonatas instead of book chapters, do have pity on the poor tortured musician, who sometimes has more than he can take of theorizing." So wrote Gertrude Hindemith to her husband's publisher on December 4, 1936 -- a scheduled day off from Hindemith's heavy work on a theoretical treatise. In the middle of the night, Hindemith suddenly got up and started writing a flute sonata. He finished the first movement while Gertrude was still composing her letter, finished the second on December 7, and finished the last on December 16. The moderately paced opening movement begins with a stately theme on flute that will, in the course of its deft development, spawn delightful variants and motifs. The music throughout the movement is slightly ambivalent, ultimately sounding bright but tinged with a sense of conflict, especially from the piano's often unsettled harmonies. The slow middle movement conveys a lonely sense, the piano again imparting a darker character than the dreamy flute. The lively finale opens with a joyous playful theme on flute over driving piano rhythms. The music intensifies midway through, then comes to a halt, seeming on the verge of collapse. The lively manner from the opening revives, its playfulness and cheer returning, and the work ends happily.

[@Philodee]

That 4th movement is so good, such a solid strong ending

[@jazz185]

My late dad's favourite composer...

[@user-pl2ou8cy6i]

And me

[@stm32Lab]

@@user-pl2ou8cy6i and me) и мой)

[@abjaaksm]

every second is gorgeous. what a shame he didn't write more for flute

[@neilwalsh3977]

There's a lot of flute in his orchestral works. You're right that he suits flute

[@vitonacci8218]

He wrote 8 pieces for solo flute

[@videocommenter235]

Get ready to be sued by Kraftwerk and Kling Klang, Paul.

[@ActuallyLinden]

1st movement can be heard in Kraftwerk's Tour de France. Beautiful song.

[@LouiePlaysDrums]

Tour de France

[@alinerjaku]

Thank you very much!!

[@user-pl2ou8cy6i]

Excellent

[@abbiechilders8407]

Good stuff

[@emmawilding9484]

my music theory is failing me, anyone know what cadence the ending of the march is

[@heatherswartz7580]

I would say maybe Plagal, III IV I (Db maj, Eb maj [could be Cm7 but only flute has C and could be passing tone], Bb maj)

[@erinoh9606]

I forgot wut cadence wus... is it the repetition thing???

[@danayang7712]

Chord-progression.👍

[@coloraturaElise]

Ok, is it just me? I don't hear the flutist playing the dynamics. Maybe it's the way it was recorded? But for instance, those pianissimi did not happen....there should not only be a dynamic change but a color change as well.

[@audrey7673]

this is a decent recording. it really isn't stellar. they're cracking notes and breathing in odd places. it does seem like it was recorded by a kind of inexperienced player (college level at least, obviously, but inexperienced). it also sounds like it was recorded so that the piano is much more present than the flute. 🤷‍♀️

[@user-tr4em4qn9t]

*reference timestamp for an audition 4:43

[@fredpollack]

This was just published in Hamilton Stone Review (online), Issue 46:
Fred Pollack
Hindemith Flute Sonata
It didn’t matter that it was I
listening to it at seven
on an early LP,
ruining myself forever for popular music.
It didn’t matter, and seemed that I
was no longer merely I -
there was a kind of impersonal invitation;
I was being let in on something.
A solemn call, dancing in
the square, flirtation in corners
leading to woods
by a river - barely as yet conceived
in this world, were occurring in
another. Different. Not just foreign,
other. Like the jokes.
I remember trying to see the buildings:
they had spires, carvings of gods
who were never serious or had been honorably
defeated. The people had the eyes of cats,
and none would willingly do
harm. The very ability
was buried, latent, a vestigial organ.

[@johnzielinski9951]

Perfect!

[@ake5958]

reference time stamp for audition: 12:11

[@melissavidal4553]

Movement 2: 4:33

[@davinlee3425]

8:57 mvmt 3

[@cailin_renee]

(audition reference) 8:57

[@davinlee3425]

6 - 2:28

[@user-bw1vx4ix6m]

12:14

[@annalarsen8941]

1:16

[@davinlee3425]

30 - 12:57

[@rociozubieta7215]

8:54

[@bonksbasement9388]

0:05 to 4:31 audition ref

[@WinrichNaujoks]

I'm sure the Nazis particularly hated that "march"!

[@michaelfuria4257]

The piano accompaniment is a bitch to play, getting it synched with the flute is even worse....

[@constancerebouco5177]

12:58

[@constancerebouco5177]

12:23