Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis Jacob Katsnelson

• Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963): Ludus Tonalis:
• 1 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: I. Praeludium 03:41
• 2 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: II. Fuga prima in C. Slow 03:05
• 3 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: III. Interludium. Moderate, with energy 01:27
• 4 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: IV. Fuga secunda in G. Gay 01:24
• 5 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: V. Interludium. Pastorale, moderate 01:08
• 6 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: VI. Fuga tertia in F. Andante 02:46
• 7 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: VII. Interludium. Scherzando 01:18
• 8 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: VIII. Fuga quarta in A. With energy 03:14
• 9 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: IX. Interludium. Fast 01:15
• 10 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: X. Fuga quinta in E. Fast 01:27
• 11 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XI. Interludium. Moderate 01:42
• 12 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XII. Fuga sexta in E-Flat. Quiet 02:06
• 13 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XIII. Interludium. March 02:19
• 14 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XIV. Fuga septima in A-Flat. Moderate 02:06
• 15 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XV. Interludium. Very broad 03:02
• 16 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XVI. Fuga octova in D. With strength 00:59
• 17 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XVII. Interludium. Very fast 01:29
• 18 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XVIII. Fuga nona in B-Flat. Moderate, scherzando 02:52
• 19 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XIX. Interludium. Very quiet 02:07
• 20 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XX. Fuga decima in D-Flat. Moderatly fast, grazioso 02:03
• 21 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XXI. Interludium. Allegro pesante 02:14
• 22 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XXII. Fuga undecima in B, Canon. Slow 02:56
• 23 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XXIII. Interludium. Valse 01:51
• 24 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XXIV. Fuga duodecima in F-Sharp. Very quiet 04:21
• 25 Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis: XXV. Postludium. Solemn, broad 04:13
• Total Runtime 57:05

Info for Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis

Hindemith’s Ludus tonalis. Studies in Counterpoint, Tonal Organisation & Piano Playing was composed in the summer and autumn of 1942, at a time when the composer had already been living in exile in the United States for two years. His life had changed drastically since 1933 due to the political situation in Germany, ultimately forcing him to emigrate. Whereas he had been one of the most important representatives of the young generation of composers in Germany in the 1920s, his works were now defamed as ‘cultural Bolshevism’ and no longer performed; he received no more concert engagements in Germany. During these years of limited concert activity, Hindemith devoted himself intensively to music theory and composition in addition to composing chamber music. In 1937, he published his first major theoretical work, Unterweisung im Tonsatz (The Craft of Musical Composition).

In 1940, Paul Hindemith began teaching at Yale Univer­sity in New Haven, cementing his reputation as an internationally renowned composer and soon becoming one of the leading composition teachers in the United States. However, with the USA’s entry into the war at the end of 1941, the musician’s posi­tion changed once again: in a climate of national exuberance and solidarity with Germany’s enemies, the works of American and Soviet composers came to the fore. In July 1942, a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, became a spectacular event in New York. The symphony had been written in Leningrad, a city under siege by German troops. On the other hand, artists who had emigrated from Germany were increasingly marginalised. Hindemith was embittered by these developments, as can be seen from a letter to his American publisher in November 1942: On the other hand, I believe that today, when every immature coward writes his own symphony and every conductor performs the most utter rubbish because he is either American or Russian and has no other merits except that he is currently set for orchestral performance; where, moreover, music seems to be judged solely by the extent to which it affects the common sensory organs between the pineal gland and the prostate, that something must appear at this very moment to show those who have not yet slipped irretrievably what music and composition are. [...] and I also know that it is entirely irrelevant to the current state of the world whether the siege of Leningrad depicted in symphonies is confronted with a moral (albeit only properly appreciated after 50 [...] years) conquest.

Jacob Katsnelson, piano

Jacob Katsnelson
Born 1976 in Moscow, Jacob Katsnelson displayed exceptional musical talent at a very early age, entering the Music School for Gifted Children of the famed Gnessin Institute at five in 1981. Choosing to specialize in flute and piano he obtained diplomas with “highest distinction” in both instruments in 1993; and thereafter continued studies in the master class of the renowned pianist Elisso Virsaladze at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

In 1992 he obtained a distinction in the Russian Competition for Young Musicians as well as in the 10th International Competition J. S. Bach in Leipzig (1996). In 1999 he was finalist at the Concours Musical International Reine Elisabeth de Belgique in Brussels; and in 2000 semifinalist at the Concours Géza Anda in Zurich. In 2001 he was a laureate of the International Piano Competition in Tbilisi (Georgia) where he also received the Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of a Work by Beethoven. In 2003 he was one of three finalists at the Concours International de Piano Clara Haskil in Vevey (Switzerland) and in 2005 obtained second prize at the First International Piano Competition Sviatoslav Richter in Moscow.

He also formed the piano trio Akadem which won first prize at the 1999 Taneyev Chamber Music Competition in Kaluga (Russia) and in 2000, second prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Trapani (Sicily).

He has performed recitals and chamber music concerts in Russia (e.g. each year at the ”Homecoming Festival” in Moscow), Germany, Belgium, Holland (Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht with Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Maxim Rysanov, Misha Maisky, etc.), France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, USA, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Estonia (Festival Hiiumaa), Latvia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Israel… He has also appeared as soloist with well known orchestras such as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Saratov in Moscow, and those of Nizhny Novgorod, Saint-Petersburg, Brussels, Switzerland, Georgia, Chisinau/Moldavia, Baku/Azerbaijan, Rhodes.

Besides many life records in the concert halls of Tchaikovsky Conservatory Jacob Katsnelson produced a CD with Kristine Blaumane, cello, featuring compositions of S. Barber, E. Grieg and B. Martinu; another one with the violist Maxim Rysanov playing Brahms. His CD with solo works of J. S. Bach appeared recently under the label Quartz (QTZ 2084).

Jacob Katsnelson is professor at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and teaches lieder interpretation at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow.

Booklet for Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis