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rowuk · 04-05-2007, 08:13 AM

The Hindemith Sonata comes from a series of Sonatas that he wrote for orchestral instruments. This means a german orchestral approach is probably closest to what he intended. A big, dark sound is a pretty good bet. The german trumpets of that time had a crown on the bell. That let you play relatively loud without "distortion" in the sound. That means you should play the dynamics as written but never get into "distortion".
The first marking is "mit Kraft" that means powerfully. The old school germans took great pride in rhythmic accuracy and precise articulation. They often criticised the american trumpet players obsession with sound and the generally softer tonguing. I studied with someone from that generation and we worked very, very hard on articulation.
Remember this work was written in 1938 or 1939. He was under intense pressure from the Nazis right before this and had emigrated to Switzerland in 1938. 1940 he finally ended up emigrating to the US (his wife was jewish). He always considered himself a representative for german music. That is why I think the german approach to this piece (precision being most important!) makes the most sense.
I have heard many renditions of this piece, most of them sound too "rounded" to me. I can't think of one contempory commercial recording that does this piece justice (oh, will I take a beating for that statement here at TM). That doesn't mean that that those performances are "garbage". It means that I have the impression that the "soul" of this piece does not lay in a massive float on a cloud sound that is popular today, rather more like a swiss watch - intricate, perfect, extreme attention to detail with great contrast!
Especially the first couple of notes shouldn't sound like: lah---, lah-,lah---, lal,lah,lah-,lah-,lah-............. rather a decisive TAH---, TAH-,TAH---....... Mit Kraft also applies to the attack!

04-05-2007, 08:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
rowuk Moderator Fortissimo User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 4,640	Re: Hindermith The Hindemith Sonata comes from a series of Sonatas that he wrote for orchestral instruments. This means a german orchestral approach is probably closest to what he intended. A big, dark sound is a pretty good bet. The german trumpets of that time had a crown on the bell. That let you play relatively loud without "distortion" in the sound. That means you should play the dynamics as written but never get into "distortion". The first marking is "mit Kraft" that means powerfully. The old school germans took great pride in rhythmic accuracy and precise articulation. They often criticised the american trumpet players obsession with sound and the generally softer tonguing. I studied with someone from that generation and we worked very, very hard on articulation. Remember this work was written in 1938 or 1939. He was under intense pressure from the Nazis right before this and had emigrated to Switzerland in 1938. 1940 he finally ended up emigrating to the US (his wife was jewish). He always considered himself a representative for german music. That is why I think the german approach to this piece (precision being most important!) makes the most sense. I have heard many renditions of this piece, most of them sound too "rounded" to me. I can't think of one contempory commercial recording that does this piece justice (oh, will I take a beating for that statement here at TM). That doesn't mean that that those performances are "garbage". It means that I have the impression that the "soul" of this piece does not lay in a massive float on a cloud sound that is popular today, rather more like a swiss watch - intricate, perfect, extreme attention to detail with great contrast! Especially the first couple of notes shouldn't sound like: lah---, lah-,lah---, lal,lah,lah-,lah-,lah-............. rather a decisive TAH---, TAH-,TAH---....... Mit Kraft also applies to the attack! __________________ Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.