Paul Hindemith Symphony in E Flat London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor

Paul Hindemith Symphony in E flat London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor

1 I. Sehr lebhaft 05:08

2 II. Sehr langsam 09:22

3 III. Scherzo - Lebhaft 06:16

4 IV. Mäßig schnelle Halbe 09:00 HINDEMITH: Paul Hindemith (b. Hanau, Germany, techniques. Bearing in mind the points made Symphony in E-Flat (1940) 1895) occupies a place with Stravinsky, above, it is not surprising that his eventual Sir Adrian Boult conducting the Schoenberg, Bartok as one of the giants of course as a composer should have been in London Philharmonic Orchestra creative music during the first half of the 20th the direction of synthesis rather than totally century. But Hindemith was never content new paths – a synthesis that would seem to with being a composer per se, for his place as aim at reconciling the great German classic a theorist and teacher (The Craft of Musical tradition represented by Bach and Brahms Composition – 1937-39) and as commentator with the techniques of 20th century compo- on music in modern life (A Composer’s World sition. Thus we find in Hindemith’s mature – 1952) is extraordinarily high. music the motoric and polyphonic elements of Bach, the chromatic and modal harmonic Furthermore, in his catalog of nearly five tendencies of Wagner and Brahms, the hundred published works, we must make sharply etched linearity espoused by the a careful distinction between the works contemporary classicists since the 1920’s. of the “composer-craftsman” and those of As early as 1921, in his fine Quartet No. 3, the profound creative artist; for much of Op. 22, we find this trend toward synthesis Hindemith’s work has been written for spe- beginning to take shape. cific teaching or instrumental demonstration purposes. Lastly, we must remember that It is interesting to note, however, that Hindemith in his younger days was not only Hindemith attempted nothing for large-scale a viola virtuoso of major international stand- symphony orchestra until the Concerto for ing – he gave the world premiere of William Orchestra of 1925, and then another seven Walton’s superb Viola Concerto – but also he years was to lapse before he tried again with could play acceptably any instrument in the the Philharmonic Concerto of 1932 (for orchestra; and he expected his students to be Furtwangler and the Berlin Philharmonic in able to do likewise! celebration of the latter’s 50th anniversary).

Hindemith’s early career is closely knit with The year 1934 was to mark Hindemith’s the grim days of inflation and poverty in truly coming into his own as an orchestral Germany after World War I, and music such master – with the “symphony” extracted as the Kleine Kammermusik for woodwind from his opera Mathis der Maler. Another quintet and the satirical opera Neues vom stage work, the ballet St. Francis was to give Tage (“News of the Day”) are counterparts birth to Nobilissima Visione – this too a genu- to the acid line drawings of George Grosz ine masterpiece. Both of these could well which were to earn the bitter hatred of the be described as 20th century tonal counter- Nazis in years to come. parts of the work of the great German artists Albrecht Dürer and Matthias Grünewald Hindemith during these years developed a (indeed it was on the latter’s life that command not only of every medium of musi- Hindemith based his Mathis der Maler). cal performance, but also of every technique from the most rigid scholastic classicism to the most modern “atonal” and “poly tonal” By 1940 it had become impossible for opening horn fanfare. In general, the move- Hindemith to work in Germany; and, having ment is direct and powerful in both musical been in Turkey and Switzerland, he finally construction and expressive content. decided to accept an appointment to the School of Music at Yale University. Shortly The slow movement – Sehr langsam – is in before this he had produced a powerful – and essence a stern yet deeply moving dirge, in unaccountably neglected – Violin Concerto; which polyphonic procedures – canon and but during his American years (1940-53), fugato – add superbly to the expressive effect a host of splendid works in all forms came of the whole. from his pen, including even an impressive choral-orchestral setting of Walt Whitman’s There follows a scherzo (Lebhaft) of “danse When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, macabre” character – one calls to mind the composed in 1946 as a Requiem for those Holbein woodcuts in this connection. Some fallen in World War II. It was in 1953 that of the tone coloration, in wood winds and Hindemith decided to return to Europe, percussion especially, suggest Mahler; but where he took up residence in Switzerland. the forward motion and density of texture are pure Hindemith. The central trio section The Symphony in E-flat was one of the first could be called a stylized siciliano in the best and most potent fruits of Hindemith’s stay in neo-Bach manner. the United States. It was completed at New Haven on December 15, 1940 and was given The finale – Mässig schnelle halbe – its premiere by the Minneapolis Sympbony (Moderately fast half-notes) combines in Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting, its expressive (but not musical) content on November 21 of the following year. aspects of all three preceding movements – the motoric quality of the first, the somber This music lacks the light touch of the gay element of the second (the stem march epi- Weber Metamorphoses of 1943. It is somber sode) and the dance element of the third music, thickly scoreo and reveals in its expres- (the charming 3/2 “intermezzo” for winds). sive content more than a little of the atmos- The recapitulation following this is full- phere that dominated the world of that time blown and elaborate in both dynamics and – when the Nazis had thundered through polyphonic density. The end is triumphant the Low Countries and beaten France to her and defiant. knees. No wonder this Symphony speaks with the accent of the march, the dirge, and Original Liner Notes by DAVID HALL the “danse macabre!”

There are four movements. The first - Sehr lebhaft (Very vigorous) - begins with a per- emptory horn fanfare which generates a train of powerfully motoric thematic mate- rial. A somewhat contrasting secondary thematic element arises from an inversion of the Some notes on the history of Everest …from the original LP release: but naturally will be most appreciated by the Records and the digital remastering audiophile with the very finest hi-fi equipment. “This Everest Recording is a Product of Belock When EVEREST recordings are played in the When Everest Records was founded by Recording, a division of the Belock Instrument Belock studio through top quality hi-fi equip- Harry Belock in 1958 as a division of Belock Corp. An EVEREST recording represents a ment similar to that found in home use, the Instrument Corp., the aim was to produce a new peak of achievement in the recording art. resulting sound is indistinguishable from the catalogue of stereo recordings of the highest As a product of Belock Instrument Corp. this master tape. Since Belock Recording uncondi- possible technical standard, with interesting recording enjoys unique advantages shared by tionally guarantees that their tapes and stereo and innovative classical repertoire played by few, if any other record company. The parent disks are genuine stereophonic recordings, some of the best artists and orchestras. company is considered one of the world’s finest they are designated as CERTIFIED STEREO- precision electronic facilities and is engaged MASTER RECORDINGS. The frequency range For the first Everest recording sessions in chiefly in the development and production of of EVEREST recordings is 20 to 20,000 cycles. 1958, an Ampex 300-3 half-inch three-chan- ultra-secret military devices. The company was It is important to note, that many companies nel recorder was used. Later on the label one of the earliest involved in the electronics specify wide frequency response, and while this moved to use a Westrex 35mm 3-track mag- aspects of ballistic missiles and is pre-eminent is an important part of hi-fi recording, the dis- netic film recorder, which had a wider possible in the fields of radar, and fire-power comput- tortion content of the recording is, if anything, dynamic range, less print-through, less tape ers and stabilization systems. Harry Belock, even more important. All EVEREST record- stretch and less ‘wow and flutter’, and which founder of the company, is an international ings are free of audible distortion throughout was the basis for the highly acclaimed typical authority on sound, and has designed mag- the entire frequency range. Carefully wipe sur- “Everest-sound”. netic film recorders which are in use through- face with soft damp cloth. Return to wrapper out the world. To EVEREST he brings all his after each play.” For the process of digital remastering of the talents and the vast technical resources of his 35 mm copy master tapes an Albrecht MB 51 company. This recording was made in the new machine was used for analog playback. The Belock Recording studio, which is constructed output was captured in highest digital reso- along the most advanced ideas in acoustics lution of 192 kHz sampling rate and 24 bit for recording. The very latest Telefunken, AKG word length using state-of-the-art converters. and Neumann microphones were utilized, feed- In the digital domain the recording was care- ing into the new Ampex 300 self-sync stereo fully restored and remastered using top-quality recorders on half inch tape. A specially- Executive Producer: Mark Jenkins for Countdown mastering and restoration equipment. designed Ampex with low-noise amplifiers is Media/Everest • Digital Transfers and Remastering: used to produce the dubbing master. Tape dupli- Lutz Rippe at Countdown Media using the original master tapes • Artwork preparation: Eckhard Volk cation is accomplished on modified Ampex at Countdown Media • Digital Booklet: Dirk Böing, machines in the Belock studios, so that maxi- Martina Grüthling • Original Producer: Bert Whyte for mum quality control is exercised at all times. Everest Records • Original Recording Director: Raoul For stereo disc, the tape is fed into modified Poliakin • Original Recording Engineer: Joe Kane • Westrex stereo cutterhead, mounted on Scully Recording Location and Date: Walthamstow Assembly lathes. A former Westrex design engineer is on Hall, London (August 1958) • Original Recording the Belock Recording stuff to insure optimum on 3-track ½ inch tape, released as SDBR 3008 in December 1958 • Remastered from 35 mm 3-track quality in stereo disc operations. The results copy master tapes • Analog playback of original master of all this painstaking care are to be heard on tapes on an Albrecht MB-51 • Digital restoration and any EVEREST recording. The recordings will remastering using Algorithmix software products give superb sound on any playback system, ℗ & © Countdown Media GmbH Below is a listing of the currently available Everest albums in this series. For more information and an updated listing please visit www.everestrecords.com

SDBR-3001 Prokofiev : Chout (“The Buffoon”), Ballet Suite, Op. 21a SDBR-3022 Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus - Bartók: Dance Suite London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Philharmonic Orchestra & János Ferencsik, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3003 Antill: Corroboree - Ginastera: Panambi SDBR-3023 Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel / Salome / Don Juan London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Leopold Conductor Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3005 Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan” SDBR-3025 Waltz Masterpieces London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Raoul Conductor Poliakin, Conductor

SDBR-3006 A Memorial Tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams: SDBR-3026 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade Symphony No. 9 in E Minor London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor Conductor SDBR-3027 Raymond Paige’s Classical Spice Shelf SDBR-3007 Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 54 Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Raymond London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Paige, Conductor Conductor SDBR-3028 Strauss: A Night in Venice SDBR-3008 Hindemith: Symphony in E-flat Original Cast & Thomas Martin, Conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor SDBR-3031 Wagner: Parsifal - Good Friday Spell “Karfreitagszauber” & Symphonic Synthesis Act 3 SDBR-3009 Stravinsky: Ebony Concerto & Symphony in Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, 3 Movements Conductor Woody Herman and his Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Conductor SDBR-3032 Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy - Amirov: Azerbaijan Mugam SDBR-3011 Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini & Hamlet Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Leopold Conductor Stokowski, Conductor SDBR-3033 Stravinsky: Petrouchka SDBR-3012 Charles K. L. Davis sings Romantic Arias from Favorite London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Operas Conductor Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, Wilfred Pelletier, Conductor & Charles K. L. Davis, Tenor SDBR-3034 Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3015 Copland: Billy The Kid & Statements for Orchestra Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Aaron Copland, Conductor SDBR-3035 Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony SDBR-3018 Copland: Symphony No. 3 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Symphony Orchestra & Aaron Copland, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3021 Arnold: 4 Scottish Dances / Symphony No. 3 SDBR-3036 Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 & Franck: London Philharmonic Orchestra & Malcolm Arnold, Variations Symphoniques Conductor London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Eugene Goossens, Conductor & Peter Katin, Piano SDBR-3037 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique SDBR-3051 Respighi: The Fountains of Rome & The Pines of London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Rome Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, Conductor SDBR-3038 Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, SDBR-3052 Khatchaturian: Gayne (Ballet Suite) Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Anatole Fistoulari, Conductor SDBR-3039 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E Major, Op. 64 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3053 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition & Night on Conductor Bald Mountain London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3040 Hindemith: Violin Concerto & Mozart: Violin Concerto Conductor No. 3 London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Eugene Goossens, SDBR-3054 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 / Lieutenant Kijé Suite Conductor & Joseph Fuchs, Violin London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, Conductor SDBR-3041 Villa-Lobos: The Little Train of the Caipira (from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2) SDBR-3055 Khatchaturian: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in Ginastera: Estancia & Panambi (Ballet Suites) D-flat Major London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Symphony Orchestra, Hugo Rignold, Conductor & Conductor Peter Katin, Piano

SDBR-3044 Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite & Concerto for Piano and SDBR-3056 Dvoˇrák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the Orchestra in D Minor New World” Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Ferde Grofé, London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3045 Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor & Tapiola, SDBR-3057 De Falla: The Three Cornered Hat (Complete Ballet) Tone Poem, Op. 112 London Symphony Orchestra & Enrique Jordá, Conductor London Symphony Orchestra, Tauno Hannikainen, Conductor & Tossy Spivakovsky, Violin SDBR-3058 Irving Berlin: Great Man of American Music - A New Interpretation SDBR-3046 Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D 759 Raoul Poliakin and his orchestra “Unfinished” - Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 SDBR-3059 Works of Lili Boulanger: Du fond de l’abîme London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, (Psaume 130), Psaume 24, Psaume 129, Vieille Prière Conductor Bouddhique & Pie Jesu Lamoureux Concert Association Orchestra, Elisabeth SDBR-3047 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (“Le Sacre du Brasseur Choir & Igor Markevitch, Conductor Printemps”) London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, SDBR-3060 Debussy: Iberia - Ravel: La Valse & Rhapsodie Conductor Espagnol Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Bloomfield, SDBR-3049 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 & Conductor Melody, Op. 42/3 London Symphony Orchestra, Walter Goehr, Conductor & SDBR-3061 A Memorial Album: Ernst von Dohnányi Plays His Own Tossy Spivakovsky, Violin Music for Piano Ernst von Dohnányi, Piano SDBR-3050 Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, SDBR-3062 Jorge Bolet playing the music of Franz Liszt: Piano Conductor Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major & Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Symphony of the Air, Robert Irving, Conductor & Jorge Bolet, Piano SDBR-3063 Bennett: A Commemoration Symphony to Stephen Foster & A Symphonic Story of Jerome Kern Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & William Steinberg, Conductor

SDBR-3064 A Liszt Recital: Piano Sonata in B Minor / Funerailles / Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Jorge Bolet, Piano

SDBR-3067 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, Conductor & Jesus Maria Sanroma, Piano

SDBR-3068 Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 82 & Finlandia, Op. 26 Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor

SDBR-3069 Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3070 Wagner: Magic Fire Music & Wotan’s Farewell – Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 17/4, Prelude, Op. 28/24 & Waltz, Op. 64/2 – Canning: Fantasy on a Hymn Tune by Justin Morgan Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3074 Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral” London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3079 A Chopin Piano Recital Jorge Bolet, Piano

SDBR-3086 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3087 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3088 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3089 Beethoven: Symphonies No. 1 & 8 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3110 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3113 Beethoven: Symphonies No. 2 & 4 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor