Heralds of Victory: A History Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the New York Staff Band & Male Chorus 1887-1987

Abstract

other, Hindemith strove for a reconciliation between past and present: evident power of reflection on historical musics of his creative imagination in Mathis der Maler carries over into, and is gradually refined in, later quite as much as any specific technique of melody or harmony (p. 216). Neumeyer goes on to observe that starting in 1940s Hindemith tends more and more to turn eye of reflection onto his own music (p. 216). This takes form of generating larger structures from preexisting pieces of his own as well as thoroughgoing revisions of earlier large-scale compositions. A good case in point for former is Hindemith's American masterwork, When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloom'd, which, as Neumeyer shows, was generated from a song written in 1943 (Sing on there, in swamp,' no. 8 in collection Nine English Songs [1944]) and in its orchestrated version mezzo-soprano arioso (section 5) of this For Those We Love. However, this song is not, as claimed by author, a reworking of a Germanlanguage setting from 1919, second of Drei Hymnen, op. 14. But he correctly observes that the uncharacteristically tight motivic-thematic integration of Requiem is a compound of generative method Hindemith used in its composition and consistent mood and recurring imagery of Whitman's text. It is entirely characteristic of Hindemith's flexibility, however, that, as Neumeyer rightly concludes, organic unity as motivic integration, like expressionistic techniques [he] had used twenty-five years earlier, was for him a tool, not a fundamental aesthetic outlook (p. 223). In discussing two versions of Das Marienleben, Neumeyer offers first description of stages of revision by comparing various sketches of two of songs in cycle. This intriguing glimpse into process of revision throws a new light on Hindemith's real artistic intentions, which are only partially revealed in his lengthy foreword to revised version. This obviously is a book addressed to a limited readership of specialists: theorists, composers, critics, and serious musicians interested in analyses of twentieth-century music. For them, however, it is a must. It will stimulate their thinking and serve to clear away misconceptions about Hindemith that have prevailed far too long. It convincingly demonstrates continuity and consistency of his creative development. The author always maintains a becoming scholarly balance and objectivity. His approach is nonpartisan and free of special pleading. The book includes an appendix which provides a chronological listing of Hindemith's published and unpublished works, with pertinent historical and biographical information, compiled by Luther Noss, Curator of Hindemith Collection at Yale University.