DIE VIOLINKONZERTE - Paul Hindemith

Aus Hindemiths Skizzen zum Violinkonzert (1939): Eine Passage am Ende des dritten Satzes / From Hindemith's sketches for the Violin Concerto (1939): a passage at theend of the third movement / Extrait des esquisses du Concerto pour violon (1939) de Hindemith : un passage à la fin du troisième mouvementhave the opportunity to show rapid continuityof movement, but it dispenseswith all brilliance and literally leadsnowhere. The hardly extroverted gesturescorrespond to the private dedication tothe composer’s 25-year-old wife; alreadydue to the self-image of its genre, thisKammermusik does not aim for a largepublic.This completely contrasts with theConcerto for Violin and Orchestra thatHindemith wrote a good decade later, in1939. This work does not deny the assignmentof genre contained in its title.Already the beginning leaves the listenerin no doubt of the intention, insofar asthe motif in the solo tympani, providingthe rhythm, is understood to be an allusionto Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op.61. The soloist’s entrance, the expositionof thematic material and its implicationsfor the work’s formation are indicated byother moments in the first movementwhich indicate a tradition of the great19 th century solo concerto. It is not awork of innovation, but rather an exemplumclassicum with which an establishedmaster demands his place in themusical world, from now on with a largepublic in view, not merely the public ofcontemporary music festivals. It is a compositionof classical standards, hardly lessso for the orchestra than for the soloist.The Concertgebouw under Willem Mengelbergwas the orchestra assigned togive the premiere performance; withHellman or Kulenkampff, the bestsoloists of the period were taken up.Shortly following the European premierein the spring of 1940, first-class artistswere engaged for the American prem i -ere: Richard Burgin with the BostonSymphony Orchestra under Serge Kous -se vitzky. The obliging style of writing,owing to the view onto the (world)market and wide public, was noticed bycontemporary critics. It was tame, in noway wild, not to mention disturbing, clearin its style. Nor was the leading line ofthe soloist surprising, using sure effectsand confidently contrasting itself to thetutti. It was one against all, not bankingon the idea of community which hadproven fragile. The composer had takenrecourse to classicism and the demonstrationof timeless values, all the moreimperiously demanding the primacy ofthe soloist: the expression of a subjectattempting to dispense with its endangermentby whistling in the woods. MHUN PERSONNAGEFACE À SON PUBLICA propos des concertos pourviolon de HindemithQu’il s’agisse du jeu percussif des boisproduit par des coups réguliers, du trombonequi, sans faire seulement usage deson timbre ou de son intonation, invoqueun Dies irae, d’un autre motif ostinatodes tambours – qui manquaient jusquelàà cette musique sérieuse – ou, enfin,des fanfares dont l’éclat musical donnesans ambages un sens au mouvement(« Signal ») : rien, ni la facture musicale,ni l’orchestration ne laissent supposer ledébut d’un concerto pour violon tel qu’ilest pourtant conçu par Paul Hindemith,en 1925, sous le titre de Kammermusikn° 4 (op. 36, n° 3). Comportement dedéni, contestation de la tradition dugrand concerto avec soliste ou bien choixdélibéré ? Au début, en tout cas, Hindemithtente de redéfinir les bases de la relationentre soliste et ensemble instrumental– les acteurs d’un concerto. Lestalents de chaque instrumentiste dont lavirtuosité se devrait d’impressionner unvaste public ne sont pas mis en relief.Dans le premier mouvement se dévelop-Hindemith-Forum 19/20095