Paul Hindemith

A Research and Information Guide

Stephen Luttmann

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135848415
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Médias et arts de la scène
• Subtopic: Théorie et appréciation de la musique

Paul Hindemith: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography concerning both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources which deal with him, his compositions, and his influence as a musician and teacher. The second edition includes research published since the publication of the first edition and provides electronic resources.

1
Documentary Studies

Archives

Hindemith Foundation and Hindemith Institute

The Hindemith Foundation (Hindemith-Stiftung, Fondation Hindemith) was established in 1968 in fulfillment of the terms of the will of the composer’s widow, Gertrud. It serves to promote Hindemith’s music; contemporary music in Hindemith’s spirit; and scholarly activity in music. The Foundation’s headquarters are in Blonay, the Swiss town where Hindemith spent his last years, and occupies his last home there (the villa “La Chance”); it also owns and manages all aspects of the Hindemith estate.

The Foundation operates two Hindemith-related institutions. The first is the Hindemith Music Centre (Hindemith-Musikzentrum, Centre Musique Hindemith), which operates out of a nearby estate. The Centre sponsors and hosts a variety of musical activities that reflect Hindemith’s own interests: seminars for composers, master courses for young performers, programs promoting amateur education, and so forth. The second is the Hindemith Institute (Hindemith-Institut, Institut Hindemith), located in Frankfurt am Main and housed within the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. The Institute serves as the composer’s archives and as the center of research activities related to him. Hindemith’s musical manuscripts, letters, etc. are scattered throughout the world, but the Institute owns copies of virtually all such items not in its possession. It is also responsible for an array of publications including a critical edition of composer’s complete works (the Sämtliche Werke, item 19); the Hindemith-Jahrbuch (item 117), an annual publication of scholarly research; the Hindemith Forum (item 118), which provides news of Hindemith-related performances, recordings, and publications; and the Frankfurter Studien, a series of topical essay collections.

There is no exhaustive published inventory of the collections of the Hindemith Foundation and Hindemith Institute; however, studies and/or inventories of certain aspects of the collections are available. Most significant of these are Andres Briner’s essays on the Hindemiths’ score and book collections (items 65 and 66), Inga Mai Groote’s study of the card files Hindemith compiled while at Yale for his instruction of the history of music theory (item 446), Luitgard Schader’s study and inventory of the first 41 sketchbooks (item 723), and Giselher Schubert’s inventory of the unpublished lectures and lecture notes (item 326). The Hindemiths’ Berlin-era address book has also been published in facsimile with extensive commentary and supporting essays (item 218). The Institute also possesses a card catalog of their collection of recordings (commercial and private), which is split between the Institute, the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (see below), and La Chance.

Further information about the activities of the Foundation, the Center, and the Institute, along with contact information, is available at the Foundation’s trilingual Web site, http://www.hindemith.org. Hindemith’s home is not open to the public. Those with advanced research interests or desiring to visit the Institute should contact it at [email protected].

Information about the Foundation’s history and activities can be found in the following:

1. Briner, Andres. “Eine kleine Geschichte der Paul Hindemith-Stiftung.” In Ansichten eines Weitsichtigen (item 92), 47–50.

Brief history of the Hindemith Foundation and its activities.

2. Briner, Andres. “Marius Décombaz.” HJb 28 (1999): 8–10.

Memorial tribute to the executor of Gertrud Hindemith’s estate and one of the founders of the Hindemith Foundation. In French (translated by François Margot).

3. “Die Gründung der Hindemith-Stiftung.” HJb 1 (1971): 9–15.

The story of the establishment of the Hindemith Foundation, from the terms in Gertrud Hindemith’s 1966 will to its official registry with the Swiss authorities in 1968, as well as initial considerations for the establishment of an institute.

The following articles detail the activities of the Hindemith Institute:

4. “Bemühungen um Hindemith—wozu?” HJb 4 (1974): 7–11.

Text of a radio interview in which Dieter Rexroth, first director of the Hindemith Institute, explains its origins and tasks, with special emphasis on the critical edition.

5. Lück, Rudolf. “Unbekannte Werke—offene Fragen. Aus der Arbeit des Frankfurter Hindemith-Instituts.” Musikhandel 35, no. 4 (1984): 171–73.

Interview with Dieter Rexroth, director of the Hindemith Institute, primarily regarding its relationship to the Hindemith Foundation, as well as the work and funding source of both entities. The relationship of the Institute to Schott is also briefly discussed.

6. Sjöqvist, Gunnar. “Paul Hindemith—ny aktuell i dag?” Musikrevy 40, no. 3 (1985): 122–27.

Primarily about the Hindemith Institute, the SW (with comments by the latter’s two editorial directors), and the 1984 Munich conference and concerts, which focused on the composer’s late work.

Paul Hindemith Collection (Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University)

In addition to materials of all kinds from Hindemith’s Yale years, this collection contains an extensive collection of scores, secondary literature, clippings, and other items nurtured for many years by his friend and colleague Luther Noss.

7. The Paul Hindemith Collection: Yale University Music Library Archival Collection MSS 47. Compiled by Carl S. Miller. New Haven: Yale University, Music Library, 1994.

Paper index to Yale’s Hindemith archives, now superseded by an analogous Web resource (see item 8).

8. MSS 47, The Paul Hindemith Collection in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University. Compiled by Carl S. Miller. Available at http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/Music/hnd-d.htm.

Exhaustive index of Yale’s Hindemith archives: musical manuscripts, correspondence, teaching materials, and other writings, as well as secondary materials such as programs, program notes, and reviews. Emphasis is primarily on Hindemith’s Yale years, but the secondary materials span his entire career. Usage guidelines; short biographical sketch. Note that finding aids to other Yale collections containing Hindemith materials are accessible at http://webtext.library.yale.edu/.

Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (DRA)

The Frankfurt branch of the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv (DRA, German Radio Archive) possesses an extensive collection of archival broadcast tapes containing numerous Hindemith-related items as well, for which it has published two inventories; see items 16 and 17. It also possesses a portion of the Hindemiths’ home collection of personal and private recordings; those housed there are listed in an internal database.

Information about access to the collection can be found at the DRA’s Web site, http://www.dra.de/.

Lists and Indexes

Work Lists (See Also Appendix A)

9. Noss, Luther. The Works of Paul Hindemith: A Chronological Listing. 2 vols. in 1. [New Haven], 1982.

Typescript archived at Yale; no doubt the source upon which the work list (also by Noss) in Neumeyer’s monograph (item 602) is based. An earlier (1978), 42-leaf bibliography by Noss also exists.

10. Paul Hindemith: Catalogue of Published Works and Recordings. Prepared by Kurt Stone. New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1954.

11. Paul Hindemith: Catalogue of Published Works and Recordings (Including Tapes). Supplement, December 1954–March 1962. Mainz: Schott; New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1962.

Not quite a sales catalog: Works are listed regardless of their availability for sale, and prices are omitted for published items. Contents are arranged by genre; entries include Schott edition numbers, instrumentation, and timings. Also notable for attempting a complete listing of recordings, regardless of availability, skewed toward American LP releases.

12. Paul Hindemith Werkverzeichnis. Mainz: Schott.

Numerous editions of Schott’s own work list exist, each new one with an increasing number of entries and pages. The 1964 edition contains 56 pages, for instance; the one from 1985, 75 pages. Contents are arranged by genre; entries include Schott edition numbers, instrumentation, and timings.

13. Paul Hindemith. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Werke. Mainz: Schott, 2002.

Although still a publisher’s catalog, the new Schott publication is a great step in the direction of a catalog that satisfies the demands of scholarship as well. (In fact, it was compiled by researchers at the Hindemith Institute, although this is noted nowhere on the item.) In addition to instrumentation, timings, and edition numbers of available scores, listings also include movement titles, first-performance information, and dedicatees. Unpublished and even lost works are listed exhaustively. Additional listings include a complete inventory of volumes (including those not yet published) of the SW and lists of prose writings. Especially welcome are indexes of work titles and song/chorus titles. Available free of charge from the Schott online shop (http://www.schott-music.com/shop/ or http://www.schott-musik.de/shop/); its order number is KAT 60–99.

Discographies and Lists of Recorded Performances

See also the work lists published by AMP (items 10–11) and the exhibition catalog work list by Rosner (item 32). Appendix B indexes all commercially recorded performances by Hindemith regardless of composer.

14. Delalande, Jacques. “Paul Hindemith. 16. November 1895–28. Dezember 1963.” HiFi-Stereophonie 3, no. 3 (March 1964): 142–49.

Dated but still useful attempt to list all recordings of Hindemith’s music, as well as all of his recorded performances (regardless of the composers of the music). Not entirely complete, even for its time, but lists numerous highly obscure items.

15. “Diskographie.” Introduction by Suzanne Schaal. HJb 26 (1997): 132–95.

Compilation of recordings, comprehensive in that an effort seems to have been made to cover all works and genres as much as possible, but otherwise lacking identifiable selection criteria. All recordings seem to be CD releases, but there are significant omissions of American items not available in Europe. Conversely, the list includes a few items never commercially available in the United States. Entries arranged according to the division of works in the SW; all include lists of performers as well as label name and number.

16. Paul Hindemith, 16.11.1895–28.12.1963, als Dirigent und Solist im Rundfunk. Foreword by Martin Kunath; introduction by Klaus L. Neumann. Frankfurt: Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv, 1965.

Catalog of performances by Hindemith of his own and others’ works as preserved by various European radio authorities. Entries arranged by genre (for Hindemith works) or alphabetically by composer; each includes dates, performers, timings, and tape/archival catalog numbers. Indexes by date, personnel, ensembles. Prefatory essays document Hindemith’s unusual prominence in radio broadcasts before the Nazi era.

17. Paul Hindemith 1895–1963. (Sonderhinweisdienst Musik, vol. 41, no. 4.) Frankfurt: Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv, 1995.

List of archival broadcast tapes owned by the DRA or various (mostly) German public radio authorities. Complements rather than replaces the previous work because it lists only tapes of Hindemith’s performances of his own works. On the other hand, it includes spoken-word recordings (e.g., interviews) and performances by people other than Hindemith. Entries are arranged by genre; each includes dates, performers, timings, and tape/archival catalog numbers. An in-house product, it is unlikely to be available outside of the DRA, and unlike more recent publications in the Sonderhinweisdienst series there are no immediate plans to make it available online.

Lists of Performances

In addition to the following work, there are two attempts to list Hindemith performances, both limited in scope. Buis (item 475) offers a comprehensive list of his early music performances at Yale and with the Yale Collegium Musicum; Rubeli (item 1088) offers a list of his choral music performances; this does not include Yale performances. Comprehensive lists of other facets of his performing career, for example as solo violist or as conductor, have yet to be undertaken.

18. Kube, Michae...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Documentary Studies
• 2. Life-and-Works Studies
• 3. Hindemith in His Own Words: Autobiographical Materials
• 4. Reminiscences
• 5. Specialized Life-and-Works Studies
• 6. Hindemith’s Musical World: Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Compositional Process
• 7. Hindemith’s Musical Theories and Theoretical Works
• 8. Hindemith as Teacher
• 9. Hindemith as Performer
• 10. Aspects of the Hindemith Reception
• 11. General Studies of Hindemith’s Music
• 12. Works for Stage
• 13. Works for Orchestra and Larger Ensembles
• 14. Chamber Music
• 15. Keyboard Music
• 16. Choral Music
• 17. Solo Vocal Music
• 18. Music for Children and Amateurs
• 19. Music for New Media and Instruments
• 20. Arrangements and Editions of Other Composers’ Works
• 21. Studies and Collections of Hindemith’s Drawings
• Appendix A. List of Hindemith’s Works
• Appendix B. List of Hindemith’s Recorded Performances
• Index