Sonata (arr. Spede)

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

General Info

Year: 1938 / 2006
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano four hands
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bass Drum
• Crash Cymbals
• Glockenspiel
• Snare Drum
• Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The sonata for piano for four hands was composed in August and September of 1938, during Hindemith’s last few months in Germany before moving to Switzerland. This work has signs of possibly being a reduction of an ensemble piece with textures that are clear, rich melodic lines, and mostly polyphonic writing, while typical piano music utilized elaborate scale and arpeggio figures. It is also known that by this time, Hindemith was familiar with the wind band and its repertoire as he had already written Konzertmusik for band in 1926 and was writing many sonatas for solo instruments including the oboe and bassoon immediately before the four-hands sonata and the clarinet, horn, and trumpet sonatas the following year. So, it may not be such a stretch to think that Hindemith had considered creating a wind band piece out of this work.

David Neumeyer, theory professor and Hindemith scholar at The University of Texas at Austin, approached director of bands Jerry Junkin about a piano sonata that he felt would work well in the wind band medium. Junkin told Neumeyer he knew just the person for this project and contacted Mark Spede, who had been one of his D.M.A. conducting students and had done many transcriptions including works by Michael Daugherty and John Corigliano. Spede was very interested in the doing the project and helping to add another Hindemith work to the wind band repertoire.

Dr. Spede initially decided to transcribe the work in the same style that Hindemith would have used. In addition to focusing on band works, he also studied the wind only sections in the orchestral works to gain an insight for colors and instruments. He looked for doublings, ranges in instruments, and the use of pairs. After taking this time and study, he realized very quickly he would get bogged down in the process and decided to use his style with the knowledge gained about Hindemith orchestration styles. This included using the same doublings and colors as Hindemith. Spede used the saxophone quartet because of the wide range available, and the percussion was based upon Hindemith’s symphony for band.

- Program Note by Michael Ray Beard

Media

None discovered thus far.

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• University of Memphis (Tenn.) Wind Ensemble (Kraig Alan Williams, conductor) – 23 February 2006 (CBDNA 2006 Southern Division Conference, Nashville, Tenn.) *Premiere Performance*

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

• Beard, Michael Ray. A Performer's Analysis and Comparison of Hindemith s Analysis and Comparison of Hindemith's Piano Sonata for Four Hands (1938) Transcription for wind band by Mark Spede to the original piano work. 2010. University of Memphis. DMA dissertation.