Unterweisung im Tonsatz: Theoretischer Teil. Band 1

by Paul Hindemith

Originally published in the 1940s, Paul Hindemith's remakable textbooks are still the outstanding works of their kind. In contrast to many musical textbooks written by academic musicians, these were produced by a man who could play every instrument of the orchestra, could compose a satisfying piece for almost every kind of ensemble, and who was one of the most stimulating teachers of his day. It is therefore not surprising that nearly forty years later these books should remain essential reading for the student and the professional musician. Introductory * The Medium * The Nature of the Building Stones * Harmony * Melody * Analyses

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. In the 1920s, he became a major advocate of the Neue Sachlichkeit (new objectivity) style of music.
Notable compositions include his song cycle Das Marienleben (1923), Der Schwanendreher for viola and orchestra (1935), and opera Mathis der Maler (1938). Hindemith's most popular work, both on record and in the concert hall, is likely the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schoenberg, eat your heart out. Seriously the best book I've read on theory. His writing is definitely convoluted, and certainly dated, but he gets his point across. Of special note is of course the method of analysis that he presents. It's certainly more thorough than the others I've seen.

[Tyler Monsein · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Anyone to whom a tone is more than a note on paper or a key pressed down, anyone who has ever experienced the intervals in singing, especially with others, as manifestations of bodily tension, of the conquest of space, and of the consumption of energy, anyone who has ever tasted the delights of pure intonation by the continual displacement of the comma in string-quartet playing, must come to the conclusion that there can be no such thing as atonal music, in which the existence of tone-relationships is denied.”

[Jonah Bobo]

A very dense read. Took me quite a while to get through; I had to read it very slowly in order to just attempt understanding everything. Some really interesting ideas about harmony in here — that was probably my favorite part. I wish there was a conclusion; the introduction was one of my favorite parts of the whole book, and I feel like if his publisher pushed him to write a conclusion it would have tied everything together very nicely.

[Grig O' · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of it is outdated, but still fascinating

[Mohamed-wahba]

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