Paul Hindemith

Germany, 1915–1963

German composer, violist and theorist (1895-1963). He moved from expressionist provocation to a lean, contrapuntal modernism built on Bach, wrote Mathis der Maler against the Nazis who banned him, and after emigrating turned the Yale School of Music into a world-class conservatory.

MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Paul Hindemith and 0 artists Paul Hindemith influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Paul Hindemith?

• Arnold Mendelssohn — Mendelssohn was Hindemith's first composition teacher and the man who gave him his taste for religious music - the thread that runs to Mathis der Maler and the late sacred works.
• Max Reger — Hindemith was at the Leipzig Conservatory while Reger taught there and absorbed his contrapuntal style, which he later reworked into his own neo-Baroque polyphony.
• Johann Sebastian Bach — Where Stravinsky's neoclassicism looked to Mozart, Hindemith looked to Bach - the Kammermusiken pay open homage to the Brandenburg concertos, and Ludus Tonalis answers the Well-Tempered Clavier.
• Igor Stravinsky — Stravinsky's neoclassical turn and rhythmic edge are audible in Hindemith's early chamber music.