The subtitle of Hartmann’s work, ‘27 April 1945’, is clarified by an epigraph the composer (in his own words) positioned at the head of the score: ‘On the 27th and 28th of April 1945 trudged an endless stream of Dachau prisoners of war past us. The interludes also serve as a means of thematic modulation each propagates thematic 'cells' that anticipate the material of the succeeding fugue.
Written just three years after Ludus Tonalis, Hartmann’s Piano Sonata depicts the shuffling feet of 20,000 camp prisoners from Dachau whom Hartmann watched being marched away from the approaching Allies. Ludus tonalis ('Tonal Games') is ingeniously arranged, its 12 fugues connected by interludes that modulate from the key of one fugue to that of the next.
Hindemith has 12 fugues for each of the tonalities and links them with a variety of delightful interludes. Ludus Tonalis is, more or less, the equivalent of Bach's Preludes and Fugues for all the major and minor keys. This masterpiece comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys and was intended to be the 20thĬentury equivalent to J.S. Ludus Tonalis or the play of tones, along with his three piano sonatas, are the very best of his piano music. It is one of the greatest solo piano works of the mid-20th century, exploring matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. Composed in 1942 during Hindemith’s stay in the United States, Ludus Tonalis was first performed in 1943 in Chicago. Hindemith was the more inclusive artist while Hartmann more fully reflected the cultural concerns of his time and their differences are conveyed by the contemporaneous but aesthetically different pieces on this disc. Hindemith Ludus tonalis 1 - PreludioMs informacin en el blog Musicnetmaterials. In solving technical problems he posed himself, Hindemith created a work of considerable imagination. Buy Ludus Tonalis (Piano Urtext) by Paul Hindemith at. Paul Hindemith and Karl Amadeus Hartmann were born a decade apart but died in the same month. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Pianist Esther Walker performs the rarely recorded work ‘Ludus Tonalis’ by Paul Hindemith along with Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Piano Concerto ‘27 April 1945’.