Great point. I often think as people think of 20th century composers Hindemith is one of those that is often skimmed over. When I was working on the sonata for 4 horns that he wrote with a quartet I got a great chance to study his composition style.
It is so mathematical and precise that it takes a long time and a lot of contact with the subject matter to truly understand Hindemith's music. As a result for program notes, I agree it would be best to keep it simple since most people will not appreciate it as deeply as serious musicians do. However bearing that in mind the audience will not relate to biographical statistics as much as they will anecdotal evidence. Find an unusual artifact about the piece, perhaps an unusual story or something people can relate to. For example if you are doing a Mozart Horn concerto a brief story about his association with Joseph Leutgeb and maybe even how Mozart's father loaned him money to start a cheese shop. Or with Haydn's horn concerto you can talk about Haydn and Mozart's acquaintenceship and how Haydn taught Mozart to be more musical in the melodic lines and even (and I'm not 100% certain on this) that Haydn stated once that he wrote the Horn concerto "in his sleep." Find something your audience can relate to - a story or an amusing tidbit of information. They'll relate to you a lot better and maybe even it will help them enjoy the piece more. I mean, to the layperson, Hindemith is difficult to follow so it's better to cushion the blow on their unwashed ears. -William In a message dated 11/5/2003 9:39:27 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Subj: RE: [Hornlist] (no subject) > Date: 11/5/2003 9:39:27 PM Pacific Standard Time > From: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > To: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > Sent from the Internet > > > > Have the music in front of you, look it through &write something about > the structure of the music, e.g. the march like theme at the beginning, > the cadenza (that the words illustrate how to execute it), etc. Two > sentences about Hindemith: the once forbidden composer in Germany until > 1945, that his music still struggles to get on the programs, that his > music is absolutely serious, unique style, that Dennis Brain premiered > the piece. > > The shorter the better. Few people read it and fewer understand it. Use > your brain &do not rely (copy) on others. One question: why didnīt you > write (or ask) these notes earlier ???? > ======================================================== > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Emily Reppun > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 11:59 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Hornlist] (no subject) > > Please help me! My program notes for the Hindemith Horn Concerto are > due > tomorrow, and I can't find much information. Anyone have any good > information or suggested links? I have only found the Dennis Brain info > > page so far. > > Thank you, > Emily > > _________________________________________________________________ > Crave some Miles Davis or Grateful Dead? Your old favorites are always > playing on MSN Radio Plus. Trial month free! > http://join.msn.com/?page=offers/premiumradio > > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > set your options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de > > > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > set your options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/valkhorn%40aol.com > _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
