Paul Hindemith - Complete Viola Music, Vol. 1 (Lawrence Power)

Information

Composer: Paul Hindemith

• Viola Sonata
• Viola Sonata in F major, Op. 11 No. 4
• Viola Sonata, Op. 25 No. 4
• Meditation (Movement from Nobilissima visione)

Lawrence Power, viola

Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano

Date: 2009

Label: Hyperion

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Review

Paul Hindemith isn’t exactly the first composer you think of when the term “hit tune” is mentioned but the opening Fantasie of his F major Viola Sonata (Op 11 No 4) of 1919 comes pretty close to providing one, especially as “sung” by viola-player Lawrence Power. “Might almost be by Brahms…” says Malcolm MacDonald in a typically persuasive and informative booklet-note, which is surely true. The finale is a fairly assertive mood-breaker, pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips marking a dramatic contrast in tempo and colour (now this really does sound like “updated” Brahms). The grittier Sonata of 1939 also includes a Phantasie, placed third in the structure rather than first. This is the Hindemith of the Mathis der Maler Symphony, purposeful music, square-jawed, angular, confident and assertive, though with more fanciful elements too – especially in the finale, which at times is both playful and delicate.

MacDonald notes the possible influence of Bartók on the Sonata Op 25 No 4 (1922), which seems to me a justified claim. This is another strong piece, more percussive than the 1939 Sonata, with a desolate but heart-rending slow movement that is savagely interrupted by the finale’s aggressive arrival. The CD (Vol 1 of “The Complete Hindemith Viola Music” is what it’s called), which is superbly recorded, is completed with a sensitive performance of the serene Meditation from Nobilissima visione in Hindemith’s own arrangement for viola and piano. As to the performances, I shan’t indulge in pointless hyperbole but I will say that not since the days of William Primrose have I heard Hindemith’s viola music played with such warmth and conviction and, as I’ve already suggested, the pianist is first-rate. A 100 per cent success story.

— Rob Cowan

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Paul Hindemith (16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963) was a German composer and theorist. Studied in Frankfurt, he gained early experience as a violinist and became a prominent composer by the late 1920s. His works range from chamber music and song cycles to operas such as Mathis der Maler. He taught in Turkey, the United States and Switzerland. Opposed to twelve-tone techniques, he sought to revitalize tonality, developing his own harmonic theory, outlined in The Craft of Musical Composition. Hindemith also promoted Gebrauchsmusik ("utility music"), viewing composers as craftsmen serving social needs

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Lawrence Power (born 1977) is a British violist. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Juilliard School. Power won first prize in the Primrose International Viola Competition in 1999, and third prize at the Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition in 2000. Since his London solo debut with The Philharmonia, he has performed in the UK and abroad, appearing as soloist with many orchestras. He also has a prominent career as a chamber musician, as violist in the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. Power plays a 17-inch (43.3 cm) viola by Antonio Brensi of Bologna from c.1610.

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