There is a striking symmetry around the center of the cycle (the march). Postludium: Retrograde inversion of the Praeludium.Fuga undecima in B ( canon): Accompanied canon.Fuga nona in B ♭: Subject transformation fugue.Interludium: Romantic miniature ( Brahms style) Ludus Tonalis can be thought of as the most direct application of Hindemiths theory that the twelve tones of the equally tempered scale all relate to a single.Interludium: Romantic miniature ( Chopin style).Two years earlier at the Stockholm Festival, Laretei had been Stravinsky’s choice of. Fuga tertia in F: Mirror fugue, where the second half is an exact retrograde of the first, except with voice paddings at their end exits. Hindemith coached Käbi Laretei for her concert renditions of Ludus Tonalis though he did not live to hear her record the work and presumably the occasional unmarked rallentando that she demonstrates on her 1965 disc had the composer’s sanction.In this system, the major-minor duality is meaningless and the practice of modulation is dropped, although subject modulation occurs in the second fugue, to create growing tension. The affinity of each note with the keynote is directly related to its position on the harmonic scale. Ludus Tonalis can be thought of as the most direct application of Hindemith's theory that the twelve tones of the equally tempered scale all relate to a single one of them (called a tonic or keynote). Unlike Bach's work, though, the non-fugal pieces in Ludus Tonalis frequently repeat the work's main theme. Ludus Tonalis was intended to be the twentieth-century equivalent to J.S. The tonalities of the fugues follow the order of his Serie 1 and use the keynote C (see The Craft of Musical Composition). In between, there are twelve three-part fugues separated by eleven interludes, beginning in the tonality of the previous fugue and ending in the tonality of the next fugue (or in a different tonality very close to that). The piece, which comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys, starts with a three-part Praeludium in C resembling Johann Sebastian Bach's toccatas, and ends with a Postludium which is an exact retrograde inversion of the Praeludium. It is in effect, a veritable catalogue of the composer's mature style." Ludus Tonalis is that great work of intellectual gymnastics which has been called a 20th-century composers reappraisal of Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier, but. The piece explores "matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. It was first performed in 1943 in Chicago by Willard MacGregor. Ludus Tonalis ("Play of Tones", "Tonal Game", or "Tonal Primary School" after the Latin Ludus Litterarius), subtitled Kontrapunktische, tonale, und Klaviertechnische Übungen ( Counterpoint, tonal and technical studies for the piano), is a piano work by Paul Hindemith that was composed in 1942 during his stay in the United States. From the first and final movements, respectively. This is made explicit by the (central) Lento, a ‘Marcia funebre’ that ranks with Hartmann’s finest utterances its sombre and fatalistic tread - shot through with fanfare- like elements - reaching an impassioned climax before regaining its mood of numbed sorrow. Although it is an utterly remarkable work, it is not an easy one to come to terms with (not to play either, one suspects). The subtitle of Hartmann’s work, ‘27 April 1945’, is clarified by an epigraph the composer (in his own words) positioned at the head of the score: ‘On the 27th and 28th of April 1945 trudged an endless stream of Dachau prisoners of war past us. Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis has received some excellent recordings, but it would be an exaggeration to call it 'popular'. Written just three years after Ludus Tonalis, Hartmann’s Piano Sonata depicts the shuffling feet of 20,000 camp prisoners from Dachau whom Hartmann watched being marched away from the approaching Allies. This masterpiece comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys and was intended to be the 20thĬentury equivalent to J.S. It is one of the greatest solo piano works of the mid-20th century, exploring matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. Composed in 1942 during Hindemith’s stay in the United States, Ludus Tonalis was first performed in 1943 in Chicago. Hindemith was the more inclusive artist while Hartmann more fully reflected the cultural concerns of his time and their differences are conveyed by the contemporaneous but aesthetically different pieces on this disc. Paul Hindemith and Karl Amadeus Hartmann were born a decade apart but died in the same month. Pianist Esther Walker performs the rarely recorded work ‘Ludus Tonalis’ by Paul Hindemith along with Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Piano Concerto ‘27 April 1945’.
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