Paul Hindemith Trauermusik

In January of 1936, Hindemith was on his way to London, to perform his new viola concerto there.  But that night, King George V passed away. 

“There was great despair at the BBC.” Wrote Hindemith a few days later.  “Bould and Clark wanted me to take part in the concert at all costs—it was held in the studio, not in the Queen’s Hall.  We debated for hours, but no suitable piece could be found, so we decided that I should write [and perform!] some funeral music myself.  As I read yesterday in the newspaper, a studio was cleared for me, copyists were gradually stoked up, and from 11 to 5 I did some fairly hefty mourning.  I turned out a nice piece, in the style of Mathis [Hindemith’s 1935 Opera Mathis der Maler) and Schwanendreher [Hindemith’s 1935 viola concerto that is now a staple of the viola repertoire] with a Bach chorale at the end (Vor dienen Thron tret’ ich hiermit—very suitable for kings.)  It is a tune every child in England knows, though I did not find that out till later… We rehearsed it well all yesterday, and in the evening the orchestra played with great devoutness and feeling.  It was very moving.  Boult [the conductor at the premiere] was, by English and his own personal standards, quite beside himself and kept thanking me.  My various pupils are now busy writing articles about the affair, and are very proud of that the old man can still do things so well and so quickly…

“Shouldn’t we perhaps make use of this story? Would you like to circulate it to the German press? It is after all no everyday occurrence when the BBC gets a foreigner to write a piece on the death of their king and sends it out over the complete network.  I’m now going to specialize in deceased persons—maybe there’ll be some more opportunities.” 

Hindemith was living in Germany at the time, suffering censorship and hostility from the strengthening Nazi government.  But his success in England indeed helped is reputation and standing in Germany tremendously.  Hitler at the time was still seeking an alliance with Britain, and almost overnight, Trauermusik transformed Hindemith’s status from dangerous deviant artist, from an "atonal noisemaker" according to the propoganda minister Goebbels, to a potential ambassador.  But Hindemith was not fooled by the Nazis sudden fawning, and he was later again accused of being a “degenerate artist” and his wife’s Jewish origins were scrutinized.  He soon fled the country, and spent most of the remainder of his life in exile.   

The Trauermusik (Music of Mourning) is one of Hindemith’s most oft-performed works.  Scarcely, 9 minutes in length, it is divided into four continuous movements that span the sequence of emotions related to death—reflection, denial, sadness, anger, pain, and finally acceptance.  It begins with a funeral march in the strings, over which a lonely spirit in the solo viola wanders.  A short pastoral movement follows, followed by a antiphonal movement which starts with a rigorous energy that quickly exhausts itself and relaxes to solemn prayer-like cries, tinged with a faintly Eastern scent.  This is possibly a result of Hindemith’s many visits to Turkey and his interest in Middle Eastern music.  

In the final movement, Hindemith orchestrates Bach’s BWV 327 Chorale, and inserts improvisatory interjections or short cadenzas for the viola over the fermatas of the orchestra.  These soloist’s quasi-recitatives are again oriental in flavor, in poignant contrast to the chorale’s naïve Protestant beauty.   
 

The words to the Bach Chorale: 

The same chorale melody, coincidentally, is known in England with these words: 

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; 
Praise Him, all creatures here below; 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.