Paul Hindemith Sonata memories

[bloke]

This gent - a true piano virtuoso - performed that sonata with me the one-and-only time I ever played it.
(I'm not a huge fan of that composer, but delighted to be hired to play this composer's orchestral works - which include the tuba.)

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Our piano (with tuba accompaniment) sonata performance was 45 years ago. At the time, I was old enough to drink alcohol, but - were I that age today - I would not be. I was sort-of encouraged to play the piece, so - thus encouraged - I sought the only person that I knew who would do the piece justice.
The tempos were brisk, his playing was delightfully musical, and I honestly don't believe he dropped a single note.
We rehearsed it ONCE (the day prior to the recital) - and it was fine - so we shrugged our shoulders and each of us went our ways.

I did a good job of accompanying this piano sonata - playing the tuba accompaniment.

just curious:
...does anyone else get the joke about "tuba players always turn the beat around" in the little scherzo movement...??

(I've never felt particularly eager to revisit the piece.)

[arpthark]

I studied the music of Hindemith for my PhD, the sonatas in particular.

At the point that I walked away from that degree, I could not bear to listen to any more of his music from that late era out of sheer mental exhaustion.

It's a fascinating if somewhat obscure tonal language that, the more I learned about it, the more I became disenchanted with. I feel his pieces from the 1940s onward tend to be hollow-sounding and wandering. This includes the tuba sonata, although I do enjoy playing it, and have performed it a number of times with some really excellent pianists, including a former colleague who attended Juilliard.

Hindemith from the 1920s is lean, tight writing that I still do enjoy, before his muddy theories on harmonic preponderance made everything an academic chore. Kammermusik is a treat.

(I will say that a few pieces written shortly before his death that are choral adaptations of French chansons are somewhat hauntingly beautiful, given the context.)

I recommend checking out his artwork. He was a clever illustrator and illustrated personalized Christmas cards that he would send to close friends every year. A fascinating man with whom I have a love-hate relationship.

edit: and yes, I always thought of it as a piano sonata with tuba accompaniment, although Hindemith does some clever things with quasi-12 tone segmentation in the tuba part that give some credence to that line as the primary voice--almost like a cantus firmus.

[bloke]

My memory of that piece is playing for Harvey Phillips in a masterclass at a 19 year old. Talk about nerve racking

[bloke]

The most nervous I’ve been - in regards to that piece - is when I’ve been a patron at a tuba recital - where people (including friends, and the recitalist) would’ve seen me leave, and someone - not quite capable of playing the tuba accompaniment - was accompanying a pianist who was only stabbing vaguely at the piece, here and there.

I wasn’t nervous when playing it, because the pianist was so breathtakingly competent, and I knew the little tuba part pretty well.
An analogy might be that we tend to be more nervous in fast-moving heavy traffic when someone else is driving, than when we ourselves are driving, yes?

I really liked Mr. Phillips. He had a good sense of humor, and seemed comfortable in his own skin. We didn’t know each other, but - when we bumped into each other (oddly at two or three different places in/around 1975, mostly) - he was always nice to me. Further, he talked about playing the tuba - rather than talking about himself.
=============
Did anyone else ever play it on a 4-valve 184?
That’s a tuba that I probably didn’t need, but Wichita Band was tossing them out there (new) for 1400 bucks (c. $7K in 2022 dough) - around the time that they were first trying to attract national attention.

[Yorkboy]

I really liked Mr. Phillips. He had a good sense of humor, and seemed comfortable in his own skin. We didn’t know each other, but - when we bumped into each other (oddly at two or three different places in/around 1975, mostly) - he was always nice to me. Further, he talked about playing the tuba - rather than talking about himself.

Similar, with my chance meetings with Mr Phillips as well, once getting on a bus in NYC

Did anyone else ever play it on a 4-valve 184?
That’s a tuba that I probably didn’t need, but Wichita Band was tossing them out there (new) for 1400 bucks (c. $7K in 2022 dough) - around the time that they were first trying to attract national attention.

King 1241, @ 1979

[hubert]

I once rehearsed it with the help of Walter Hilgers. At the end he called it "hin damit" (something like "away with it").
Hubert

[cjk]

The Hindemith Tuba Sonata reminds me of mowing the lawn. Kinda something you have to do, but don't really wanna?

It's just awful to listen to. Even when played by extraordinary players, It still sounds like a tuba player warming up during a piano concerto.

[arpthark]

A great way to practice those major 9ths, yeah?

I'm going to transpose the opening lick through the circle of fifths now as a warmup.

[bloke]

again:

The only thing I REALLY like about it is the joke re: "tuba players always turn the beat around"...but that's not funny enough to listen to the entire piece.