Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith wrote music that thinks like Bach and speaks in a lean modern tongue: dense counterpoint, clear forms, and harmony that uses every chromatic note without abandoning tonality. His sonatas for ordinary and unlikely instruments remain essential working repertoire.
The catalogue runs from neo-Baroque chamber concertos to Gebrauchsmusik meant for real occasions and real players. What keeps returning to the stand is the instrumental writing: the horn sonata, the tuba sonata, the harp sonata, and the piano Nachtstück from the 1922 Suite share the same clear architecture and restless chromatic energy. Forms stay classical; the harmony walks freely across the twelve tones while still pulling toward a home pitch. The result is music that asks for craft and pays it back with shape, grit and song, whether the line sits under the fingers of a pianist at midnight or in the hands of a brass or harp soloist.
Compositions by Paul Hindemith appear on
Tuba Recital
One of the world’s finest tuba players, and the first to give a tuba recital in Australia, Ian King presents a programme from Bach and Vivaldi through to Paul Hindemith’s remarkable Sonata for Tuba and Piano.
Hornocopia
About 110 minutes of French horn music, from classical staples to contemporary scores. Much of the programme sits on the AMEB French Horn syllabus, and several works appear here on CD for the first time – a practical set for students and teachers.
Night Thoughts
During the long still nights of Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns, pianist Len Vorster listened widely and thought hard about what he heard. Those evening ruminations became this programme of fifteen nocturnes and night pieces, from Schumann’s circle to Copland.