A Composer's World

The Book aims to be a guide through the little universe which is the working place of the man who writes music. As such it talks predominantly to the layman, although the expert composer may also find some stimulation in it... From the center of basic theory our discussion will spread out into all the realms of experience which border the technical aspect on composing, such as aesthetics, sociology, philosphy and so on...
We must be grateful that with our art we have been placed halfway between science and religion, enjoying equally the advantages of exactitude in thinking... and of the unlimeted world of faith. Paul Hindemith, from the preface

"Creative power cannot be taught, but the readiness to receive the divine gift in the form a craftsmanship that is always at the ready and capable of the highest achievements - that can be learned." In 1921 he was one of the cofounders of the Donaueschingen Music Festival. In 1927 he was already professor for composition at the Conservatory of Music in Berlin: Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). Once the bogey of the middle classes, during the 1920s he found his way to the style of the New Objectivity and ultimately became skeptical of the conception of progress among the young generation of composers, which he felt was unrestrained. His late ideal of a style of writing that was predominately tonal led to his rejection by the musical avant-garde. The movement's theorist, Theodor W. Adorno, branded this development as a "fatal inclination to the official" and thus gave the signal for the isolation of Hindemith and his music that would last for a decade. Today, a changed perspective on the history of music has given Hindemith his place among the ranks of the leading composers of the twentieth century, as an outstanding conductor, teacher, and philosopher of music and as one of the most frequently performed composers of the twentieth century.

The Philosophical Approach - Perceiving Music Intellectually - Perceiving Music Emotionally - Musical Inspiration - Means Of Production - Technique And Style - Performers - Some Thoughts On Instruments - Education - Business Matters - Environment