Symphonia Serena / Die Harmonie Der Welt

Paul Hindemith (Composer), Herbert Blomstedt (Conductor), Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
• Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt
• Composer: Paul Hindemith
• Audio CD (June 13, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00004T762
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,490 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphonia Serena: 1. Moderately Fast

2. Symphonia Serena: 2. Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven. Paraphrase

3. Symphonia Serena: 3. Colloquy

4. Symphonia Serena: 4. Finale

5. Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 1. Musica Instrumentalis

6. Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 2. Musica Humana

7. Symphonie 'Die harmonie der Welt': 3. Musica Mundana

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hindemith: Serene and Heavenly, October 7, 2000

By 

Thomas F. Bertonneau (Oswego, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphonia Serena / Die Harmonie Der Welt (Audio CD)

Rather more slowly than Yan Pascal Tortelier on Chandos, Herbert Blomstedt has been issuing a Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) cycle, with the San Francisco and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, on Decca. The most recent disc in the series couples the "Symphonia Serena" (1946) with the Symphony "Harmonie der Welt" (1951), two fairly late works in the Hindemithian canon which nevertheless show the composer working in top form. "Symphonia Serena" opens with a beautiful, lengthy melody for solo horn; the adjective "serene" describes it perfectly. The rest of the movement develops this lovely theme in a way which, while corresponding to standard sonata-form, also manages to be an engaging theme-and-variations. A short, swift movement for winds alone follows, functioning as the symphony's scherzo; the basis for the movement is a quick-march that Beethoven wrote for the Austrian Cavalry. The slow movement, for strings, is quite unusual. It begins with a violin solo, answered in canon by an offstage violin solo; the string band then takes up the theme and develops it polyphonically. Next we hear a viola solo, answered in canon by an offstage viola; whereupon the band takes up the viola them, but pizzicato. Then the soli join in a kind of quartet. Finally, the legato violin-theme is joined to the pizzicato viola-theme and both unfurl in perfect counterpoint. The Finale brings the entire forces together in a jolly romp. "Harmony of the World" was Hindemith's opera on Johannes Kepler; as in the case of "Mathisder Maler," the orchestra suite, or symphony, appeared first (Furtwängler played it and a recording of his performance exists). The powerful fanfare that opens the First Movement sets the tone of the work. The Finale (Third Movement) is a mighty passacaglia along Bachian lines. It's a toss-up between Tortelier and Blomstedt. Both are superb performances superbly recorded.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Performances Of Hindemith's Late Symphonies, December 29, 2001

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Symphonia Serena / Die Harmonie Der Welt (Audio CD)

I haven't heard much of Hindemith's orchestral music before, so this CD is an extremely pleasent surprise. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra gives electrifying performances of both works, that are vibrant and technically brilliant. Blomstedt is superb leading his forces through Hindemith's architecturally complex scores. I am inclined to agree with Amazon.com's reviewer that the first work sounds vaguely reminiscent of Vaughan Williams' late symphonies. The sound quality is absolutely superb.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Hindemith from Leipzig, thanks to Blomstedt, June 22, 2010

By 

W. Chiles "classical geek" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphonia Serena / Die Harmonie Der Welt (Audio CD)

One of the more significant satisfactions of my move to San Francisco in 1989 was experiencing the work that Herbert Blomstedt was producing with a growing symphony orchestra in a disadvantaged concert hall. While he could be pedestrian in the great romantic works of Tchaikovsky, he was no slouch in the central european classics of Beethoven, Bruckner and certain specialties like Nielson and Hindemith. This recording attests to the careful attention he paid to details of execution, blending of orchestral choirs and selection of appropriate tempi. You might snooze through a Blomstedt "Pictures at an Exhibition" but you paid careful attention to his Hindemith performances. Decca did an excellent job recording him both in San Francisco and Leipzig where I believe he improved the orchestra beyond what it provided Kurt Masur. Decca surpassed the Philips engineers in capturing the blended sound of this magnificent orchestra. Highly recommended.