Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber
Encyclopedia
The Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber is an orchestral work composed in America by Paul Hindemith
in 1943.
's music was first put forward to Hindemith in 1940 by the choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, who suggested that Hindemith arrange music by Weber for a ballet. When Hindemith made a piano arrangement in March 1940 of the two pieces that would become movements 1 and 3 of the Metamorphosis, which in a letter of April 12, 1940 he described as "lightly coloured and made a bit sharper", Massine expressed a preference for more strict arrangements of Weber. This was one reason the project fell through (Luttmann 2009, 335–36). After studying Weber's music, Hindemith watched one of Massine's ballets and disliked it, so he wrote the Symphonic Metamorphosis instead. The Andantino and Marsch were completed on June 8 and June 13, 1943, respectively, and the manuscript of the complete orchestral score is dated August 29, 1943 (Luttmann 2009, 335).
Although by its thematic material it belongs squarely in the European tradition, it was composed with the virtuosity of American symphony orchestras in mind, and was titled originally in English (Schubert 2001). Other hands later translated it variously into German as Symphonische Metamorphose von [über/nach/zu] Themen Carl Maria von Webers; two German editions mistakenly give the title in the plural, Sinfonische Metamorphosen nach Themen von Carl Maria von Weber, and Sinfonische Metamorphosen Carl Maria von Weber’scher Themen, though none of these German titles were sanctioned by Hindemith (Luttmann 2009, 335). They nevertheless have sometimes been back-translated into English as Metamorphoses on Themes by …. The work is also sometimes also known in English as Symphonic Variations on (or of) Themes by Carl Maria von Weber but, despite the title's reference to "themes", the work incorporates material more broadly from whole works by Weber (Anderson 1996, 1).
The Symphonic Metamorphosis is in four movements
:
The Weber themes are taken from incidental music Weber wrote for a play by Carlo Gozzi
based on the same Turandot
legend that later inspired Giacomo Puccini
and others. Hindemith and his wife used to play Weber's music for two pianists, and Hindemith used some of these little-known pieces—Op.
60/4 (no. 253 in the Jähns catalog of Weber's works) (first movement), Op. 10/2 (J. 82) (third movement), and Op. 60/7 (J. 265) (fourth movement) for the themes of the other movements. Weber's piano duets were written around 1801 and 1818–19, his Turandot music in 1809.
The work was first performed on January 20, 1944 in New York City
, Artur Rodziński
conducting the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra
.
later choreographed the work for the New York City Ballet
, under the title Metamorphoses. This ballet version, with costumes by Barbara Karinska
and lighting by Jean Rosenthal
, was first announced for the week of 17 November, but was postponed and finally premiered on November 25, 1952. The principal dancers were Tanaquil LeClercq, Todd Bolender
, and Nicholas Magallanes
, and the orchestra was conducted by Léon Barzin
. The company revived the production for the 1954 season (Anon. 1952a; Anon. 1952b; Luttmann 2009, 336; Martin 1952; Martin 1954).
A new choreography to Hindemith's music was devised by Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros for a 1990 production at Wolf Trap
, titled Movilissimanoble, but was pronounced "at best a qualified success as a symphonic abstraction in a neo-Balanchinian mode" (Kriegsman 1990). A year later, the Tokyo Festival Ballet brought to New York Minoru Suzuki's Henyo: Unknown Symphony, a ballet danced to a recording of Hindemith's music, but it was not well-received: "The choreography kept 16 dancers busy. Yet the work was more notable for its abundance of steps than for its clarity of structure" (Anderson 1991).
.
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
in 1943.
History
The idea of composing a work based on Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's music was first put forward to Hindemith in 1940 by the choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, who suggested that Hindemith arrange music by Weber for a ballet. When Hindemith made a piano arrangement in March 1940 of the two pieces that would become movements 1 and 3 of the Metamorphosis, which in a letter of April 12, 1940 he described as "lightly coloured and made a bit sharper", Massine expressed a preference for more strict arrangements of Weber. This was one reason the project fell through (Luttmann 2009, 335–36). After studying Weber's music, Hindemith watched one of Massine's ballets and disliked it, so he wrote the Symphonic Metamorphosis instead. The Andantino and Marsch were completed on June 8 and June 13, 1943, respectively, and the manuscript of the complete orchestral score is dated August 29, 1943 (Luttmann 2009, 335).
Although by its thematic material it belongs squarely in the European tradition, it was composed with the virtuosity of American symphony orchestras in mind, and was titled originally in English (Schubert 2001). Other hands later translated it variously into German as Symphonische Metamorphose von [über/nach/zu] Themen Carl Maria von Webers; two German editions mistakenly give the title in the plural, Sinfonische Metamorphosen nach Themen von Carl Maria von Weber, and Sinfonische Metamorphosen Carl Maria von Weber’scher Themen, though none of these German titles were sanctioned by Hindemith (Luttmann 2009, 335). They nevertheless have sometimes been back-translated into English as Metamorphoses on Themes by …. The work is also sometimes also known in English as Symphonic Variations on (or of) Themes by Carl Maria von Weber but, despite the title's reference to "themes", the work incorporates material more broadly from whole works by Weber (Anderson 1996, 1).
The Symphonic Metamorphosis is in four movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Allegro
- ScherzoScherzoA scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
(Turandot): Moderato - Lively - Andantino
- MarschMarch (music)A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
The Weber themes are taken from incidental music Weber wrote for a play by Carlo Gozzi
Carlo Gozzi
Carlo, Count Gozzi was an Italian playwright.Born in Venice, he came from an old Venetian family from the Republic of Ragusa...
based on the same Turandot
Turandot (play and character)
Turandot is a commedia dell'arte play by Carlo Gozzi after a supposedly Persian story from the collection Les Mille et un jours by François Pétis de la Croix...
legend that later inspired Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
and others. Hindemith and his wife used to play Weber's music for two pianists, and Hindemith used some of these little-known pieces—Op.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
60/4 (no. 253 in the Jähns catalog of Weber's works) (first movement), Op. 10/2 (J. 82) (third movement), and Op. 60/7 (J. 265) (fourth movement) for the themes of the other movements. Weber's piano duets were written around 1801 and 1818–19, his Turandot music in 1809.
The work was first performed on January 20, 1944 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Artur Rodziński
Artur Rodzinski
Artur Rodziński was a Polish conductor of opera and symphonic music. He is especially noted for his tenures as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic in the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:...
conducting the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
Ballet productions
George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
later choreographed the work for the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
, under the title Metamorphoses. This ballet version, with costumes by Barbara Karinska
Barbara Karinska
Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska , was costumer of the New York City Ballet, and the first costume designer ever to win the Capezio Dance Award, for costumes "of visual beauty for the spectator and complete delight for the dancer".However, she designed the...
and lighting by Jean Rosenthal
Jean Rosenthal
Jean Rosenthal is considered a pioneer in the field of theatrical lighting design. She was born in New York City to Romanian-Jewish immigrants....
, was first announced for the week of 17 November, but was postponed and finally premiered on November 25, 1952. The principal dancers were Tanaquil LeClercq, Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender
Todd Bolender was a renowned ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director. He was an instrumental figure in the creation and dissemination of classical dance and ballet as an American art form...
, and Nicholas Magallanes
Nicholas Magallanes
Nicholas Magallanes was a first-generation principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Along with Jerome Robbins, Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed the New York City Ballet in 1948...
, and the orchestra was conducted by Léon Barzin
Leon Barzin
Léon Eugene Barzin was a Belgian-born American conductor and founder of the National Orchestral Association , the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States...
. The company revived the production for the 1954 season (Anon. 1952a; Anon. 1952b; Luttmann 2009, 336; Martin 1952; Martin 1954).
A new choreography to Hindemith's music was devised by Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros for a 1990 production at Wolf Trap
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, known locally in the Washington, D.C. area as simply Wolf Trap, is a performing arts center located on 130 acres of national park land in Wolf Trap, Virginia...
, titled Movilissimanoble, but was pronounced "at best a qualified success as a symphonic abstraction in a neo-Balanchinian mode" (Kriegsman 1990). A year later, the Tokyo Festival Ballet brought to New York Minoru Suzuki's Henyo: Unknown Symphony, a ballet danced to a recording of Hindemith's music, but it was not well-received: "The choreography kept 16 dancers busy. Yet the work was more notable for its abundance of steps than for its clarity of structure" (Anderson 1991).
Instrumentation
The Metamorphosis is scored for a typical Romantic-sized orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
.
- woodwinds: piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 2 fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, English horn, 2 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in B-flat, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, 2 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
.
- brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
: 4 hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s in F, 2 trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in B-flat, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
.
- percussion: timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, 4 other players playing snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, triangleTriangleA triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
, GlockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, cymbals, small cymbals, suspended cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
, tubular bellsTubular BellsTubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
, tom-tom, small gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, wood blockWood blockA woodblock is essentially a small piece of slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....
, tenor drumTenor drumA tenor drum is a cylindrical drum that is higher pitched than a bass drum.In a symphony orchestra's percussion section, a tenor drum is a low-pitched drum, similar in size to a field snare, but without snares and played with soft mallets or hard sticks. Under various names, the drum has been used...
- strings: violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
i, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ii, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, violoncellos, double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es
Further reading
- Anderson, Gene. 1994. "Analysis: Musical Metamorphoses in Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber". Journal of Band Research 30, no. 1:1–10.
- Bolin, Norbert. 1999. Paul Hindemith: Komponist zwischen Tradition und Avantgarde: 10 Studien. Kölner Schriften zur neuen Musik 7. Mainz: Schott. ISBN 3795718961.
- Brennecke, Wilfried. 1963. "Die Metamorphosen-Werke von Richard Strauss und Paul Hindemith". Schweizerische Musikzeitung 103, no. 4:199–208.
- Charry, Michael. "The Metamorphosis of a Title". Journal of the Conductors' Guild 12, nos. 1–2 (Winter–Spring 1991): 71–73.
- Fenton, John. 1978. "Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses". Music Teacher (February): 19–21.
- Field, Corey. 1990. "A Rose by Any Other Name …". Journal of the Conductors' Guild 11, nos. 3–4 (Summer–Fall): 109–13.
- Neumeyer, David. 1986. The Music of Paul Hindemith. Composers of the Twentieth Century. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
- Noss, Luther. 1989. Paul Hindemith in the United States. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252015630.
External links
- Discovering Music - Hindemith's Symphonic Variations of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
- Kuenning, Geoff. 1995. "Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber". Program notes for Concerts by the Symphony of the Canyons, 1994–1995 Season (Accessed 18 October 2011).
- Program notes to a concert by the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra