* November 16th 1895, Hanau – † December 28th 1963, Frankfurt
Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor. Born in Hanau, Germany, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child. He entered the Hochsche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main where he studied conducting, composition and violin under Arnold Mendelssohn and Bernhard Sekles, supporting himself by playing in dance bands and musical-comedy outfits. He led the Frankfurt Opera orchestra from 1915 to 1923 and played in the Rebner string quartet from 1914 in which he played second violin, and later the viola. In 1921 he founded the Amar Quartet, playing viola, and extensively toured Europe.
In 1940 Hindemith immigrated to the United States. Once in the States he taught primarily at Yale University where he had such notable pupils as Lukas Foss, Norman Dello Joio, Mel Powell, Harold Shapero, Hans Otte, Ruth Schonthal, and Oscar-winning film director George Roy Hill. During this time he also gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, from which the book A Composer’s World was extracted. He became an American citizen in 1946, but returned to Europe in 1953, living in Zurich and teaching at the university there. Towards the end of his life he began to conduct more, and made numerous recordings, mostly of his own music. He was awarded the Balzan Prize in 1962.
Loading ...
