Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven

Paul Hindemith

Subtitle: Paraphrase from Symphonia Serena

General Info

Year: 1946
Duration: c. 4:10
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Schott Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $49.00 | Score Only - $18.99

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Tuba
Timpani
Celesta
Percussion, including:

Cymbal (crash)
Glockenspiel
Snare Drum
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This "quick march" is the second movement of a much larger work by Hindemith entitled Symphonia Serena. The work was composed for the Dallas Symphony in 1946 and premiered by that organization, conducted by Antal Dorati, on February 1, 1947.

The entire symphony, as suggested by the title, is an agreeable work, making no pretense of plumbing emotional depths, but exploiting various instrumental groups in an amiable and ingenious manner. In borrowing from Beethoven's March in F, Hindemith begins by quoting variants of his predecessor's melody, phrase by phrase. After a change to triple meter and a considerably altered presentation of the theme, the scoring gradually increases, new material is presented, and the movement ends with full ensemble.

- Program notes by March Music Notes and Dennis L. Johnson

Like much of Hindemith's music written after World War II, the Symphonia Serena (1946) combines a new preoccupation with intensely chromatic counterpoint and a wry sense of humor, a feature largely dormant in the composer's music since his departure from Germany in the 1930s. As might be expected from a composer whose own instrumental expertise fostered a special affinity with performers, Hindemith also filled his score with a multitude of felicities that could be counted on to delight players and listeners alike: witty parody, ingenious instrumental combinations, and different simultaneous tempi. A miniature military march by Beethoven, the Yorck'sche Marsch (March in F), is the thematic basis for the second movement, Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven.

This scherzo is scored entirely for winds and brass. Chattering woodwinds create a shifting chromatic background for fragments of Beethoven's theme, stuttered out amusingly by horns and tuba. A trio section presents the same theme in irregular chordal phrases, with woodwinds imitating the reedy drone of bagpipes. The return of the main section presents Beethoven's march theme in its entirety, with the same élan and harmonic abandon that Hindemith employed twenty-five years earlier in his orchestral jazz parody Ragtime (Well-Tempered).

- Program Note by Mark Satola for the University of Oklahoma Symphony Band concert program, 20 November 2017

Media

MP3 Download: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Corporon, conductor)
MP3 Download: Philharmonia Orchestra (Paul Hindemith, conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Bowling Green (Ohio) State University Wind Symphony (Kenneth Thompson, conductor) - 24 February 2023
Northern Illinois University (DeKalb) Wind Ensemble (Thomas Baugh, conductor) – 7 October 2022
Appalachia: A Southeastern Wind Symphony (Knoxville, Tenn.) (Logan Campbell, conductor) - 5 September 2021
Lone Star Wind Orchestra (Richardson, Tx.) (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) - 9 May 2021
University of Kansas (Lawrence) Symphonic Band (Matthew O. Smith, conductor) - 24 April 2021
University of Wyoming (Laramie) Wind Symphony (Robert Belser, conductor) - 5 November 2020
Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Symphonic Band (Eric Allen, conductor) - 5 November 2020
Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Wind Ensemble (Thomas Caneva, conductor) - 5 October 2020
University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Thomas Gamboa, conductor) – 19 February 2020
University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Symphony (Jaclyn Hartenberger, conductor) – 13 November 2019
University of Missouri, Kansas City, Wind Ensemble (Joseph Parisi, conductor) – 24 April 2019
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Mark Scatterday, conductor) – 1 April 2019
Penn State University (State College) Recital Ensemble (Jacob Bender, conductor) - 27 January 2019
University of Maryland (College Park) Wind Orchestra (Brian A. Coffill, conductor) – 7 December 2018
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 9 November 2018
University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Wind Ensemble (Christopher Knighten, conductor) – 23 April 2018
University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Brian Britt, conductor) – 20 November 2017
University of Arizona (Tucson) Wind Ensemble (Chad R. Nicholson, conductor) – 26 October 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

Concert Music, op. 50 (tr. Duker) (1930/1978)
Der Schwanendreher (1935)
Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven (1946)
Geschwindmarsch (arr. Mas Quiles) (1946/1975)
Kammermusik Nr. 5 (1927/1955)
Kammermusik Nr. 7 (1927/1956)
Kleine Kammermusik (1922/1949)
Konzertmusik fur Blasorchester, Opus 41 (1926)
Konzertmusik für Klavier, Blechbläser und Harfen, Opus 49 (1930)
Mathis der Maler (tr. Duker) (1934/1973)
Morgenmusik (1932)
Neues vom Tage Overture (arr. Rogers) (1929/)
Nobilissima Visione (tr. Sweet) (1938/)
Ragtime (tr. De Cinque) (1921/2016)
Septet (1948/1949)
Sonata (arr. Spede) (1938/2006)
Sonata for Four Horns (1952)
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber (tr. Wilson) (1943/1972)
- March from "Symphonic Metamorphosis" (tr. Wilson) (1943/1972)
- Marsch from "Symphonic Metamorphosis" (tr. Ross) (1943/2012)
Symphony in B-flat (1951)
Symphony in E-flat (arr. Rogers) (1940/)

Resources

Paul Hindemith website
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 292.