Hindemith - Sonata
Hindemith wrote this piece for French Horn in 1939. This fact needs to be born in mind throughout because it could be perceived as a very staid and dull piece. The second movement and indeed other sections certainly demand more from the piano than the soloist. There is an excitement as the piece shifts quickly from one mode to the next in that way that Hindemith tends to. The third movement has this strange unsettled mood that vacillates from schmaltz to angst with each alternating phrase. Sound is critical here, the tone and phrasing are what will make this music make sense. The final movement has an amazing workout for the piano and also contains the following poem in the score: Something of this reminds me of Britten and Auden's Night Mail. An alternative,more flamboyant part has been constructed by the great Jean-Marie Londeix but it probably disrupts the character of the solo part a little too much and pulls the work in the wrong direction, or at least an ill-fitting one.