Biography of Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith embodies in a special way the type of a universal musician equally well versed in theory and practice.

Born in Hanau in 1895, he already received violin lessons in primary school and performed with his two siblings as the "Frankfurter Kinder Trio". He was a German composer of the modern age. In his early creative period, he shocked classical concert audiences with provocatively new sounds, which earned him the reputation of a "citizen shock". During the National Socialist era, his works were banned from being performed, to which he eventually reacted by emigrating, first to Switzerland, then to the USA. He distanced himself from the romantic image of the artist as a genius inspired by inspiration and saw the composer and musician more as a craftsman. The emphasis on craftsmanship is also reflected in his theoretical writings. He pleaded for "utility music" and saw it as the composer's duty to face social challenges and not to compose for the sake of pure end in itself.

Paul Hindemith. Biografie. Hardcover in a slipcase, 518 pages, 38 x 53 mm, Miniaturbuchverlag Leipzig 2016. German edition.