Paul Hindemith: Symphonia Serena (1946) / Symphony "The Harmony of the World" (1951)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Symphonia Serena is the third of Hindemith's six symphonies. Composed in 1946, it's an athletic work, more along the lines of a concerto for orchestra. Hindemith, perhaps more so than any other composer, wrote his symphonies with a wide range of instrumental parts. (Some critics disliked the way Hindemith wrote roles for amateur players in a symphony orchestra. But if Symphonia Serena's only fault is its simplicity, then to hell with those guys.) Hindemith's Die Harmonie de Welt is a 1951 work that led to the 1957 opera of the same name. It's less moody than the Symphonia, but good nonetheless. --Paul Cook

Tracks:

1. Engelskonzert
2. Grablegung
3. Versuchung Des Heiligen Antonius
1. Langsam/2. Ruhig Bewegt/3. Lebhaft/4. Marsch - Geraldine Walther
1. Allegro
2. Turandot, Scherzo: Moderato
3. Lebhaft
4. Sehr Langsam

Tracks:

1. Massig Schnell, Mit Kraft - Sehr Breit, Aber Stets Fliessend
Lebhaft - Langsam - Im Ersten Zeitmass
1. 'Zwischen Berg Und Tiefem Tal' - Geraldine Walther
2. 'Nun Laube, Lindlein, Laube!' - Geraldine Walther
3. Variations: 'Seid Ihr Nicht Der Schwanendreher?' - Geraldine Walther
1. Einleitung Und Rondo
2. Marsch Und Pastorale
3. Passacaglia

Tracks:

1. Moderately Fast
2. Geschwindmarsch By Beethoven, Paraphrase
3. Colloquy
4. Finale
1. Musica Instrumentalis
2. Musica Humana
3. Musica Mundana

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2005-09-11

The Trio series is unquestionably, along with EMI's Gemini sets, one of the best available. This particular item is a complete set of Hindemith's orchestral works, and not only do we get full servings at over 60 minutes per CD, but you get fantastic performances as well. These Blomstedt SFSO/Leipzig Gewandhauser recordings were originally issued at full price on Decca, and when one hears them one can tell why. The orchestras sound transparent and lovely, and Blomstedt doesn't force the music, which works perfectly and is an approach strangely similar to the best interpretations of Mozart. Emotion is given its full due: I challenge you to find a single phrase here that is either too boistrous or too grim. The recording quality is amazing - so fine, in fact, that the captured sonics themselves are a significant bonus to the set. And the price! To pay, Melville wrote, is the worst affliction the two orchard thieves inflicted upon us. Luckily for you and me, the price is small - and the music is worth a hundred times the price to boot. Get it without hesitation.

Not really a review, just filling in missing information.......2004-08-01

This is a compilation of 3 discs previously released separately, all conducted by Blomstedt and highly rated by critics.

Disc 1 (with San Francisco Symphony):
Mathis der Maler symphony (tracks 1-3)
Trauermusik for viola and strings (track 4)
Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber (tracks 5-8)

Disc 2 (with San Francisco Symphony):
Konzertmusik for brass and strings (tracks 1-2)
Der Schwanendreher (viola concerto) (tracks 3-5)
Nobilissima Visione suite (tracks 6-8)

Disc 3 (with Gewandhausorchester Lepizig):
Symphonie Serena (tracks 1-4)
Symphonie "Die Harmonie der Welt" (tracks 5-7)

Paul Hindemith: Complete Orchestral Works [Box Set]

Average customer rating:

Great performances of a great composer
Hindemith, Hindemith, Hindemith!!!!!
DIDN'T THINK THAT THEY MADE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE

Paul Hindemith: Complete Orchestral Works [Box Set]

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Hindemith: Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 (Box Set)
Hindemith: Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 (Box Set)
Hindemith: Complete String Quartets
Milhaud: The Complete Symphonies (Box Set)
Alban Berg Collection / Various (Coll)

ASIN: B000001RXO
Release Date: 1995-01-25

Amazon.com

Hindemith was the greatest German composer of the post-War period, and the last in that great line that began with Bach and extended through the Classical and Romantic periods. His orchestral music is varied and generally extremely approachable, and the percentage of major works is very high. Nobilissima visione, Symphonic Metamorphoses, Mathis der Maler, Symphony in E-flat, and Concert Music for Strings and Brass are all popular masterpieces, while works such as the Symphonic Dances, Symphonia Serena, and Harmony of the World Symphony deserve the same accolades. This set, excellently performed and recorded by a selection of fine Australian orchestras, really deserves the widest circulation among fans of listenable contemporary classical music. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Great performances of a great composer.......2006-08-23

While Hindemith will never be known for changing the way the world hears music, he will always be recognized as composing well-crafted minor masterpieces, even if they can be a little formulaic and his sense of melody was a little warped. All six discs in this set have gems that should be heard more often in the concert halls and recorded more. In particular, the Concerto for Orchestra on Disc 6 is fantastic -- with its addictive and fun themes and transparent structure, it was the only work I listened to for about a month. Of the rarer works recorded here, his Symphony Serena on Disc 5 is a little tougher to like, but is really quite good, while his Symphony in E flat on Disc 4 is nothing short of amazing. The Philharmonic Concerto, a set of variations on a strange but catchy theme that only Hindemith could write, also really shines in this set.

Of his more well known -- if you can call any Hindemith "well known" -- works, the recordings are a mixed bag. His Concert Music for Strings and Brass on Disc 3 have a wonderful fullness in the lower brass that I haven't heard in other performances. But the Mathis der Maler Symphony and Nobilissima Visione are both so-so and a little dull. And the performance of Symphonic Metamorphosis here is just outright terrible and a big disappointment, full of mistakes and uneven tempos.

But that's ok. Because you can get good recordings of his better-known works elsewhere. But because his lesser works are presented here in such convincing performances, this set is a must buy for anyone exploring Hindemith! The other 2 box sets on CPO that round out his complete orchestral works are just as good, if not even better. All are highly recommended.

Hindemith, Hindemith, Hindemith!!!!!.......2005-05-15

Wow, this box set is phenomenal. First off, HIndemith is one of the most underappreciated and underrated composers of the 20th century. In my opinion he is definetly in the top 5 along with Stravinsky, Schoenberg, etc. This box set is simply amazing. Whether it is the sound quality, or the works themselves, they will provide you with hours and hours of great music. Although Hindemith was a 20th century composer, his works are EXTREMELY ACCESSIBLE and have a chromatic-romantic feeling to them. I am a music teacher and I have a huge classical collection and this box set is played more than most else. Also, I would recommend the other two volumes by CPO, they are just as good as this set.

DIDN'T THINK THAT THEY MADE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE.......2002-12-08

I listened upstairs in bed, on the couch watching football with the sound off, while typing my uncle William E. Crawford's WWII journals. It doesn't get any better than Paul Hindemith, whether it is band music, symphony, ragtime, or overture.
I confess I sometimes have a love-hate feeling about the role of the Jewish Diaspora musicians and composers. But they do the time to the beat and more. I always go to them for performance. They should teach other Americans to compose and perform.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Werner Andreas Albert just goes to show the universality of good music. Notice I didn't say classical music.
This is a real buy. Das Merienleben by Christophorus-Verlag GmbhI bought up in Regina Canada in June of 1995. I don't see it listed but would recommend it for parts like the suspicions of Joseph. CPO has many German composers I don't have like Reicha. Sancta Susanna from 1998 conducted by Yam Pascal Tortelier is by Chandos ASIN:B00005Z6V. I am eagerly awaiting it from Amazon.

Hindemith: Symphonia Serena / Harmonie der Welt
Average customer rating:

Splendid Performances Of Hindemith's Late Symphonies

Hindemith: Serene and Heavenly

Hindemith: Symphonia Serena / Harmonie der Welt

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Hindemith | Hindemith, Paul | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00004T762
Release Date: 2000-06-13

Tracks:

Symphonia Serena: 1. Moderately Fast
Symphonia Serena: 2. Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven. Paraphrase
Symphonia Serena: 3. Colloquy
Symphonia Serena: 4. Finale
Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 1. Musica Instrumentalis
Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 2. Musica Humana
Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 3. Musica Mundana

Customer Reviews:

Splendid Performances Of Hindemith's Late Symphonies.......2001-12-29

I haven't heard much of Hindemith's orchestral music before, so this CD is an extremely pleasent surprise. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra gives electrifying performances of both works, that are vibrant and technically brilliant. Blomstedt is superb leading his forces through Hindemith's architecturally complex scores. I am inclined to agree with Amazon.com's reviewer that the first work sounds vaguely reminiscent of Vaughan Williams' late symphonies. The sound quality is absolutely superb.

Hindemith: Serene and Heavenly.......2000-10-08

Rather more slowly than Yan Pascal Tortelier on Chandos, Herbert Blomstedt has been issuing a Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) cycle, with the San Francisco and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, on Decca. The most recent disc in the series couples the "Symphonia Serena" (1946) with the Symphony "Harmonie der Welt" (1951), two fairly late works in the Hindemithian canon which nevertheless show the composer working in top form. "Symphonia Serena" opens with a beautiful, lengthy melody for solo horn; the adjective "serene" describes it perfectly. The rest of the movement develops this lovely theme in a way which, while corresponding to standard sonata-form, also manages to be an engaging theme-and-variations. A short, swift movement for winds alone follows, functioning as the symphony's scherzo; the basis for the movement is a quick-march that Beethoven wrote for the Austrian Cavalry. The slow movement, for strings, is quite unusual. It begins with a violin solo, answered in canon by an offstage violin solo; the string band then takes up the theme and develops it polyphonically. Next we hear a viola solo, answered in canon by an offstage viola; whereupon the band takes up the viola them, but pizzicato. Then the soli join in a kind of quartet. Finally, the legato violin-theme is joined to the pizzicato viola-theme and both unfurl in perfect counterpoint. The Finale brings the entire forces together in a jolly romp. "Harmony of the World" was Hindemith's opera on Johannes Kepler; as in the case of "Mathisder Maler," the orchestra suite, or symphony, appeared first (Furtwängler played it and a recording of his performance exists). The powerful fanfare that opens the First Movement sets the tone of the work. The Finale (Third Movement) is a mighty passacaglia along Bachian lines. It's a toss-up between Tortelier and Blomstedt. Both are superb performances superbly recorded.

Average customer rating:

Walter: Maestro Generoso (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Maestro Celebre
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00005AU52
Release Date: 2001-03-27

Paul Hindemith: Symphonia Serena (1946) / Symphony "The Harmony of the World" (1951)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Performances
Disappointing volume in normally admirable series

Paul Hindemith: Symphonia Serena (1946) / Symphony "The Harmony of the World" (1951)
Janet Fisher , Tania Maxwell , Andrew Orton , Dennis Simons , and BBC Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000AT6
Release Date: 1994-05-12

Tracks:

Symphonia Serena: I. Moderately Fast - Animato - Broad - Tempo Primo
Symphonia Serena: II. Geschwindmarsch By Beethoven. Rather Fast
Symphonia Serena: III. Colloquy. Quiet - Fast - Scherzando - Fast
Symphonia Serena: IV. Finale. Gay - Slow - Coda. Fast
Symphony 'Die Harmonie Der Welt': I. Musica Instrumentalis
Symphony 'Die Harmonie Der Welt': II. Musica Humana
Symphony 'Die Harmonie Der Welt': III. Musica Mundana

Amazon.com

Symphonia Serena is the third of Hindemith's six symphonies. Composed in 1946, it's an athletic work, more along the lines of a concerto for orchestra. Hindemith, perhaps more so than any other composer, wrote his symphonies with a wide range of instrumental parts. (Some critics disliked the way Hindemith wrote roles for amateur players in a symphony orchestra. But if Symphonia Serena's only fault is its simplicity, then to hell with those guys.) Hindemith's Die Harmonie de Welt is a 1951 work that led to the 1957 opera of the same name. It's less moody than the Symphonia, but good nonetheless. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Performances.......2005-08-05

The music of Paul Hindemith is viewed by many as being "difficult" music. Perhaps this notion comes from Hindemith's evolving compositional style which went from Expressionism to Neo-classicism. He often added jazz and dance elements to his music but never compromised his stance that music had to be tonal. At one time Hindemith's symphony Mathis der Mahler was frequently played but since his death in 1963 his music has been unfairly eclipsed.

The Symphonia Serna was written in 1946 on a commission from the Dallas Symphony. It was written like a concerto for orchestra with a great diversity of instruments and textures. The symphony opens with a beautiful soaring melody that the orchestra develops and contrasts and concludes, gloriously, with the full orchestra a magnificent blaze of brass. The second movement is a series of variations on a march of Beethoven scored for winds and percussion. The third movement is broken into sections with a solo instrument marking the end of the section. It begins with a reflective theme played by the strings and concluded by a solo violin holding a conversation with an off-stage violin. The strings then play a pizzicato section and conclude with a solo viola. This movement demonstrates Hindemith's fertile imagination juxtaposing instruments in refreshing ways. The Finale begins with a flourish of brass and follows with cheerful themes played by the clarinet and then spread through the orchestra. This is Hindemith at his most appealing. . As I listened to this symphony it struck me how much joy there is the composition and how changing a note would have spoiled the music.

The Symphony Die Harmonie Der Welt was written in 1951 and later the subject was turned into an opera of the same name in 1957. The story is based on Johannes Kepler, the astronomer and philosopher of the 17th century. Hindemith chose this subject, like Mathis der Mahler, because Kepler was identified with the coming to term of art in society. The direct focus of the opera is Kepler's notion of the harmony of the spheres that led to his excommunication from the Lutheran Church. The symphony is divided into 3 movements with each movement title referring to a musical division found in the writings of ancient authors. I approach the symphony as music alone without any kind of program. Die Harmonie Der Welt is Hindemith at his compositional best with contrasting melodies and imaginative orchestration.

The symphonies are nicely performed by Yan Pascal Tortielier and the BBC Philharmonic. The recording is superbly engineered by Chandos.

Disappointing volume in normally admirable series.......2005-03-26

Good to see Paul Cook reviewing this CD for Amazon.com; his articles on Hindemith in AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE during the early and mid-1990s made many of us appreciate for the first time what riches lie in Hindemith's hardly-played orchestral oeuvre. Alas, this volume in Chandos's normally admirable Hindemith series disappoints (despite impressive engineering and even more impressive comments in the booklet notes). The reason is soon obvious: string playing that varies from just-OK to downright bad. Not all the famed Chandos reverberation can disguise the fact that the strings here evoke Sir Henry Wood's deathless words: "the ensemble needs to be more together".

These are pieces demanding powerhouse technique in every section - the sort of performances which are not only virtuosic but curiously impersonal, like a conveyor-belt process. (Sir Georg Solti was born to conduct this music with the Chicago Symphony, and it is a great shame that he never did.) What they get on the present disc is appropriately brisk and in-your-face wind and percussion contributions, repeatedly needing to contend with violinists and violists who find Hindemith's demands just too much. Some of the solo violin and viola work in the SERENA's third movement can only be described by that expressive monosyllable "ugh".

Nothing in THE HARMONY OF THE WORLD's upper string writing punishes the BBC fiddlers quite as severely as SERENA's most exposed passagework, if only because HARMONY OF THE WORLD tends to be a glorified brass concerto anyhow. But nothing sounds really right either. No, stick with the rival version of this same coupling from Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony on the London/Decca label.

Better still, buy Chandos' beautiful companion CD containing the SYMPHONIC DANCES (surely one of Hindemith's four or five greatest inspirations?), the PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY (pretty dull at first, yet with a grand-slam finale), and the truly gonzo RAGTIME. That recording's annotations are inferior to this one's - the SYMPHONIC DANCES / PITTSBURGH / RAGTIME note-writer, apparently obsessing over the American market, litters what seems like every second paragraph with references to Charles Ives - but in every other respect it's an excellent release.

Average customer rating:

good stuff

Composers in Person: Hindemith

Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000006L7H
Release Date: 1994-02-15

Customer Reviews:

good stuff.......2003-06-14

Having Hindemith recordings reissued on CD is a good thing. The performances are good and the sound quality is acceptable. Hindemith's craftsmanship was always impeccable. Particularly fun on this set are Hindemith's string trio, scherzo for viola and cello, and Hindemith playing his Op.24 viola sonata (the one that got him on Goebbels blacklist). The symphonic works aren't as striking as the Symphony in E flat or the Mathis symphony but that's probably a matter of taste. Hindemith fans who want to hear him directing and performing his own music will want this.

Paul Hindemith: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5

Average customer rating:

Paul Hindemith: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000001RRD
Release Date: 1995-01-25

Tracks:

When Lilacs Last In The Door-Yard Bloom'd (A Requiem For Those We Love): Prld
Sym: Engelkonzert. Ruhig Bewegt- Ziemlich Lebhafte Halbe
Sym: Grablegung. Sehr Langsam
Sym: Versuchung Des Heiligen Antonius/Sehr Langsam, Frei Im Zeitmass-Sehr Lebhaft
Sinf Serena: Moderately Fast
Sinf Serena: Geschwindmarsch By Beethoven/Paraphrase/Wind Instruments Only/Rather Fast
Sinf Serena: Colloquy/String Orch In Two Sections/Quiet
Sinf Serena: Finale/Gay

Hindemith: Mathis der Maler; Symphony in Ef

Average customer rating:

Hindemith: Mathis der Maler; Symphony in Ef

Manufacturer: Berlin Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000035S5
Release Date: 1996-02-20

Tracks:

'Mathis Der Maler' Sym: 1. Angelic Con
'Mathis Der Maler' Sym: 2. Entombment
'Mathis Der Maler' Sym: 3. The Temptation Of Saint Anthony
Con: 1. Allegro Spiritoso
Con: 2. Molto Adagio
Con: 3. Vivace
Orchestral Ste: 1. Einleitung Und Rondo
Orchestral Ste: 2. Marsch Und Pastorale
Orchestral Ste: 3. Passacaglia

Tracks:

Sym in E flat: 1. Sehr Lebhaft
Sym in E flat: 2. Sehr Langsam
Sym in E flat: 3. Lebhaft
Sym in E flat: 4. Massig Schnelle Halbe
Symphonia Serena: 1. Moderatley Fast
Symphonia Serena: 2. Geschwindmarsch By Beethoven. Paraphrase
Symphonia Serena: 3. Colloquy
Symphonia Serena: 4. Finale

Average customer rating:

A treasure of infinite carats!

Walter Conducts Mendelssohn & HIndemith

Manufacturer: Music & Arts Program
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Symphony No. 8, In G, Op. 88: I Allegro Con Brio
Symphony No. 8, In G, Op. 88: II Adagio
Symphony No. 8, In G, Op. 88: III Allegretto grazioso
Symphony No. 8, In G, Op. 88: IV Allegro ma non troppo
Hebrides Overature, Op. 26: Hebrides Overature
Symphonia Serena: 1 Moderately Fast
Symphonia Serena: 2 Geschwindmarsch By Beethoven
Symphonia Serena: 3 Colloquy
Symphonia Serena: 4 Gay

Customer Reviews:

A treasure of infinite carats!.......2007-02-10

Thanks once more to the praiseworthy efforts of Music & Arts label, we can enjoy these radiant performances that reveals us the profound affinity between Hindemith and Walter: The Serena Symphony is not precisely one of the most performed works of this remarkable composer. Walter assumed the challenge and achieved a sublime peak in his assayed artistic trajectory.

On the other hand, Walter exhibits not only a prodigious interpretative musculature in this beloved Dvorak symphony, but he makes it breath ths Op. with radiant joyfulness and peerless fluidity; although I would want to recommend the version of Charles Munch with the Boston Symphony still remains unmatchable.

The Hebrides is a true God' gift. The New York Philharmonic sounds with the required flair and perpetual gaiety and agreeable tune that results absolutely gratifying all the way through.

A legendary musical treasure!

Average customer rating:

A miracle of allegories.

Allegories

Manufacturer: Klavier
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Poetics
Passions
Hemispheres
Deja View
Retrospectives

ASIN: B0006SSNFA
Release Date: 2004-12-07

Customer Reviews:

A miracle of allegories........2005-07-05

What a band this is! A fine compendium of new music ending with a corruscating performance of 'Bells for Stokowski' by Michael Daugherty, Every item here is well chosen and performed with brilliance and true applomb by the Texan performers. A disk for all wind band enthusiasts.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Black Wings of Destiny

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