Title
Sonata for Trumpet and Piano op. 137 (1939)
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Biographical Info
The sonata opens with the trumpet proclaiming a sturdy theme over piano figuration to the performance direction mit Kraft (with strength). Two more ideas are presented, with the movement’s eventual form set out in the neatly symmetrical arrangement of A-B-C-A-C-B-A. The second movement has a quirky, whimsical air to it, somewhat like a comical march but with a pronounced undercurrent of tension. The last movement is the longest and the sonata’s center of emotional gravity. Entitled Trauermusik (music of mourning), it takes the trumpet, so often used as an instrument of brilliance and pomp and celebration, on a troubled, meditative journey that culminates in the somber intoning of the chorale-theme Alle Menschen müssen sterben (all men must die), which Bach had set as a chorale-prelude (BWV 643).
This sonata was one of several Hindemith composed in 1939, as part of his project to supply music of substance and challenge to serious amateur performers on various instruments. This particular work took on a depth quite beyond the scope of its companion sonatas; it became one of Hindemith’s most personal expressions, and in that sense suggests a link to such works as the opera Mathis der Maler and the more familiar three-part symphony he created from materials in that work?the music that became the flashpoint of his unplanned confrontation with the Nazi authorities in his native country.
In 1939, the year he composed this sonata, Hindemith was living as an exile in Switzerland, where he watched his own country annex Austria, occupy Czechoslovakia and finally ignite World War II by invading Poland, while its leaders were intensifying their obsession with anti-Semitism and moving determinedly toward full-scale genocide. The Trumpet Sonata, perhaps to Hindemith’s own surprise, became a protest and a profound lamentation. Perhaps as a reflection of these ominous events, Hindemith’s Trumpet Sonata took on a rather somber hue. Hindemith held this sonata in high esteem. To a friend he wrote that “it is maybe the best thing I have succeeded in doing in recent times.”
Suggested Equipment
(The recording below is from a recital I gave at UW-Platteville in 2017. I used a Bach Artisan Bb)
There are no mutes needed.
Movement 1 (With Strength)
Movement 2 (Moving Smoothly)
Movement 3 (Mourning Music)
Practice/Performance Tips
I have two stories to tell about this piece. A prominent German trumpet soloist came to my school as a guest artist and gave a talk about this piece in a master class. He said that he had it on good authority that this piece was indeed programmatic. The first movement portrays the terror and confusion of Nazi’s marching in to a town and people fleeing and hiding. (Hindemith’s own exile to Switzerland.) The second movement is a dream sequence where he is dreaming of distant times when things were simple and easy, like childhood. Only, it is just a dream and there is always an undercurrent of the horrible reality of the 1940’s Germany. The third movement is Hindemith’s prediction of what could possibly come of all this horror and pain (All Men Must Die).
The other story comes directly from Adolph Herseth. He had many occasions to actually talk with Hindemith and one time he asked him about the tempo of the final chorale in the last movement of the Sonata. Paul Hindemith told Bud Herseth that the tempo indication was a mistake by the publisher and it was never intended to be played so slowly. It was intended to be more like a bookend with the opening of the first movement. Indeed, if one plays the last section faster it is much easier to hear the happy, major chorale that the trumpet plays over the ominous, plodding piano part. That little bit of information changes the sonata entirely! I think that it has existed for too long and the “reputation” the piece has as an endurance test is too set for people to change much and begin playing the last movement how Hindemith apparently intended.
Suggested Recordings
There are probably hundreds of professional recordings of the Hindemith Sonata out there. My personal favorites are by Tony Plog 20th Century Settings for Trumpet and Gil Johnson with Glenn Gould.