Classical Music | Music for Viola

Paul Hindemith

Viola Sonata Op. 11 No. 4  Play

Yura Lee Viola
Timothy Lovelace Piano

Recorded on 07/10/2007, uploaded on 01/26/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Viola Sonata Op. 11 No. 4     Paul Hindemith

I. Fantasie: Ruhig - II. Theme and Variations  - III.  Finale (without pause)

Respected as one of the most distinguished viola-players of his time, Hindemith devoted the earlier part of his career to performance, first as a violinist and then as violist in the Amar-Hindemith Quartet.

The so-called Fantasy Sonata, Op. 11, No. 4 (named after the first movement) was written at the beginning of 1919, in the midst of the nationalistic sound of a World War now lost.  The work, between Romantic and Impressionist, has nothing of the anarchy of later times. Hindemith gave the following advice to performers: 'The sonata must be played without breaks between the movements, especially the second and third movements should be so connected that the listener should not have the feeling of hearing a finale, but the last movement must appear simply a continuation of the variations'.      Yura Lee