Paul Hindemith

Bio

Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) was a German composer, violist, conductor, and teacher whose prolific output spanned opera, orchestral, chamber, and solo works. Early in his career he was associated with expressionist and avant-garde trends, but by the 1930s he had adopted a neoclassical idiom characterized by clear forms, contrapuntal rigor, and tonal harmony. Hindemith’s most celebrated compositions include the opera Mathis der Maler, the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, and the seven Kammermusik concertos. He also wrote an influential series of instrumental sonatas and the pedagogical collection Ludus Tonalis. Forced to leave Nazi Germany in 1938, Hindemith settled first in Switzerland and then in the United States, where he taught at Yale University and became an American citizen. After the war he returned to Europe, continuing to compose, conduct, and lecture until his death in 1963.