The Yearbook spans the period from Hindemith’s early years as a student of composition with Bernhard Sekles at Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium in Frankfurt/Main to his late major work, the opera Die Harmonie der Welt (1956/57). In his article, Tomi Mäkelä presents Sekles as a cosmopolitan composition teacher who fostered all pupils individually, allowing them space for development. The special relationship between Paul Hindemith and Sekles who praised his highly gifted student as the greatest talent I have ever observed [...] in 1919 is investigated by Susanne Schaal-Gotthardt.

An example of Hindemith’s desire to compose works for particular occasions and target groups is provided by Wir bauen eine Stadt, his musical play for children. Luitgard Schader follows the traces of concepts originating from the Bauhaus and Hindemith’s receptiveness for educational experimentation.

Michael Heinemann analyses Hindemith’s lied Pietà from the new version of his monumental song cycle Das Marienleben (1948) and identifies a tonal ambiguity deliberately created by Hindemith to accentuate the salvatory role of Mary.

Ulrich Fischer takes a lawyer’s view of the legal-historical foundations of the court scene in Hindemith’s opera Die Harmonie der Welt first performed in 1957 in which the mother of the protagonist Johannes Kepler is accused of witchcraft. Fischer provides legal insight into this scene against the background of the surviving legal-historical facts of this court case which actually took place in Güglingen in August 1621.

(HJW)

Hindemith-Jahrbuch / Annales Hindemith 2019/XLVIII
Herausgeber: Hindemith Institut Frankfurt im Auftrag der Fondation Hindemith, Blonay (CH)
Mainz: Schott 2019
ISBN-13: 978-3-7957-1873-2
ISSN: 0172-596X

Olli Mustonen is awarded the Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau 2019

The Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau 2019 will be awarded to the internationally renowned conductor, composer and pianist Olli Mustonen. The municipal authorities followed the joint suggestion submitted by the foundation council of the Hindemith Foundation and Claus Kaminsky, the head mayor of Hanau, and decided in their recent council meeting to award the prestigious prize endowed with 10 000 euros to the internationally acclaimed musician. Claus Kaminsky, the head mayor of Hanau, commented on the decision: “Olli Mustonen is a worthy prize winner of the Hindemith Prize of the City of Hanau in 2019 on the strength of the global recognition of his outstanding musical abilities – entirely in the spirit of Hanau’s great son Paul Hindemith who devoted himself to the popularity of both old and new music in his capacities as musician, composer and conductor at the beginning of the 20th century.”

Mustonen is considered an exceptional figure within the international world of music for his great versatility. In an interview given in 2012, he stated that he considered Paul Hindemith as his model for his own versatility. Mustonen has focused on the compositions of Paul Hindemith for many years now, repeatedly featuring works by the composer in his concert programmes. Back in 1996, he issued a highly commended recording of the magnificent piano cycle "Ludus tonalis" and subsequently  recorded Hindemith’s concert work "Die vier Temperamente"  [The Four Temperaments] in 2003. Since 2007, his repertoire has included Hindemith’s long-lost "Klaviermusik mit Orchester" op. 29 (piano concerto for the left hand) which only received its first performance in 2004: he gave the English premiere of this composition in 2012. Lately, he has also focused on works by Hindemith in his conducting career, most recently directing guest performances of Hindemith’s orchestral work "Symphonic Metamorphosis" in Italy, Finland and Sweden.

The prize will be awarded in Hanau on 24 November.

Additional information

In the autumn of 1919, exactly 100 years ago, Paul Hindemith signed his very first contract with the publisher B. Schott’s Söhne in Mainz. This signature set the seal on a connection which still continues today – now upheld by Hindemith’s legal successor, the Foundation Hindemith Blonay. The Hindemith Institute Frankfurt is commemorating this centenary with the presentation of the edition Hindemith–Schott. Der Briefwechsel [Hindemith-Schott. Exchange of Correspondence]. The publication includes around 2 800 documents written by Hindemith and his wife Gertrude and the then proprietors of the publishing house, Ludwig und Willy Strecker, and other employees of the company. The documents spanning the period between 1919 and 1967 not only recreate a vivid impression of Hindemith’s relationship with his publisher from which friendships also blossomed over the decades, but also provides a unique insight into the artistic developments and political upheavals of the modern age – a significant record of music history in the 20th century.
The presentation of this exchange of correspondence accompanied by a special lecture and extracts from the publication will take place in the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz on 14 November 2019 at 6.30 pm. As a musical highlight, a recital of Hindemith’s piano cycle Ludus tonalis (1942) performed by Olli Mustonen will round off the event. The pianist who was born in Helsinki in 1967 has performed around the world with renowned orchestras and distinguished conductors for many years, making appearances in all major musical capitals. In parallel, he has become well established as a conductor, working with all major orchestras in Finland and numerous top-level international ensembles and additionally celebrated global success as a composer. This year, Olli Mustonen will be awarded the Hindemith Prize by the city of Hanau in 2019 for his creative career in which the music of Hindemith has long played a prominent role.

Further informations

The Kazakh composer Aigerim Seilova will be the recipient of the Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival 2019. Seilova, born in Kazakhstan in 1987 and now resident in Hamburg with her family, studied piano at national and international music conservatoires and composition at the Moscow Conservatoire. She has composed works for solo instruments, chamber music ensembles and orchestras. Her work is striking “for its high professionalism in compositional craft and original tonal language” commented Christian Kuhnt, artistic director of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. He is simultaneously chairman of the jury of the Hindemith Prize which is also made up of representatives from the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, the Fondation Hindemith, the Gerhard Trede Foundation, the Lübeck Academy of Music and the Franz Wirth Memorial Foundation. The Hindemith Prize, awarded in 2019 for the thirtieth year, is at € 20 000 one of the highest endowed accolades for composition in Germany.

Further information: https://www.shmf.de/de/hindemith-preis-2019

Sunday, 13 January 2019, 6 pm  Alte Oper Frankfurt am Main

Paul Hindemith (1895–1963): Mathis der Maler, Sinfonie (1933/34)
Alexander Skrjabin (1871–1915): Poème de l’Extase op. 54
Modest Mussorgski (1839–1881): Bilder einer Ausstellung (1874), arr. Maurice Ravel (1922)

Further informations