Paul Hindemith - Kammermusik No. 2, I-II

Kammermusik No. 2, for piano & 12 instruments, Op. 36/1 (1924)

I. Sehr lebhafte Achtel
II. Sehr lansame Achtel
III. Klienes Potpourri: Sehr lebhafte Viertel
IV. Finale: Schnelle Viertel

Ronald Brautigam, piano

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly

Paul Hindemith's mature style first found its expression in the series of seven Kammermusiken, composed between 1921 and 1927. The second of the series, a chamber concerto for piano, is exemplary of this first flowering: scored for a small, wind-heavy ensemble (the only strings are one each of violin, viola, cello and double-bass), with emphasis on tonally free counterpoint rather than chordal harmony, and driven by relentless energy.

A single, peremptory chord from the ensemble launches the whirlwind opening movement. Immediately the piano throws out the first theme in motoric, two-part counterpoint, joined by the ensemble, which races along to keep up with the wild pace. The textures are lean, and through the contrapuntal dissonance a certain jazziness is intimated. There is no real second theme; the ensemble works the material over in a kaleidoscopic succession of settings, before a repeated gesture of three fierce chords from the soloist finally halts the music's momentum.

The second movement is the longest of the work. Moody, chromatic musings from unison winds are counterbalanced by trill-heavy figurations from the soloist. The wind theme takes on the nature of a slow cantilena, with elaborate piano commentary that in the succeeding middle section blossoms into a cadenza that is wistful yet unsettled in mood. The glum wind chant returns with somewhat more vehemence, only to be surrealistically supplanted by a brief, very odd and rather jaunty passage for woodwinds, the piano providing its usual contrapuntal embroidery. The moodiness returns to snuff the music out.

Satiric elements are to the fore in the third movement, a microscopic scherzo called "Little Potpourri." Insistent notes from the various high woodwinds vex the proceedings, while the piano strings together short-breathed phrases that dance attendant upon the fragmented ensemble. A "stuck-record" effect, with asymmetrical cadences from the winds, brings the movement to an inconclusive conclusion.

A pompous unison theme, long and parodistic, opens the Finale in jaunty triple-time. The music's apparent self-satisfaction is undermined by the piano's intensely wrought, two-handed counterpoint. Brass in fugato dominate the middle section, while the soloist works out the fugue theme double time. There is a short but impressive cadenza, with full chordal splendor, before the opening theme returns in its burgher-like pomposity and puts a stop to things. [allmusic.com]

Art by Joan Pere Viladecans

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