Symphonic Metamorphosis

HINDEMITH 1895-1963

Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber began life as an idea for a ballet. Hindemith was approached by a choreographer about making some “arrangements” of Weber’s music for a ballet group. Hindemith apparently came back with piano sketches of what would eventually be the Symphonic Metamorphosis, but the dancers wanted more traditional (read: lame) arrangements of Weber’s music. Hindemith withdrew from the project and decided to make it an orchestra piece for the concert hall, and in 1944, the New York Philharmonic premiered it (not a bad consolation prize, if you ask me). The work is arguably Hindemith’s most popular and most performed work, and rightfully so.

The actual themes that Hindemith borrowed from Weber are decidedly obscure, coming from rather inconsequential pieces of Weber’s oeuvre — some incidental music that was intended to illustrate a play based on the Turandot story (yes, that Turandot, for all the Puccini buffs). This piece is not your father’s “theme and variations”, as Hindemith sought to make substantial transformations of Weber’s material and did so by using them in a very general conceptual framework. The result is, as the title would indicate, a true metamorphosis, not just a simple variation.

Allegro The opening of the work is stately, if rather severe-sounding. That is not to say there aren’t some very playful moments in this particular movement, as Hindemith infuses a large amount of dramatic contrast across the piece. In a nod to tradition (Hindemith was, after all, a traditionalist in his heart), the movement is cast in sonata form.

Scherzo (Turandot) The second movement is cast as a scherzo (of sorts), and is the closest movement to a true theme and variations; indeed, the theme (a very, very substantially modified “found object”) that is first heard in the flute at the beginning of the movement is the subject of much attention across the movement. Hindemith also uses the percussion heavily in this movement, a hallmark of twentieth century orchestrational development. The piece’s most charming moment may well be the brass’s jazz-inspired fugato (which sounds very much like a very Teutonic take on American jazz).

Andantino Hindemith’s music often gets a bad rap for being overly dense and complex; the third movement of this work is the perfect counter-argument to this kind of criticism. Here, Hindemith crafts a beautiful, lyrical, and singing contrast to the rest of the piece. The winds are featured heavily, including the gorgeous opening clarinet solo. Especially sublime is the extended flute solo at the end of the movement-- as the rest of the orchestra winds the music down by repeating the chords from the opening, the flutist acrobatically provides a beautifully complex and colorful obbligato above to end the movement.

Marsch The most dramatic movement is saved for last; the Weber theme on which this movement is based was a funeral march. Hindemith increased the tempo to rework it as a brisk march, which begins with an ominous brass statement, followed by a theme in the winds underpinned by churning strings. A clever restatement reverses this orchestration, with the strings taking the melody and the winds accompanying. This somewhat foreboding mood is completely done in by the entrance of the second theme in the horns-- a glorious, triumphant moment that ultimately serves as the exciting, dramatic, and powerful climax of this stellar work.

  • Anthony Suter

Concert Performance

Orchestration

Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings