Victim Of Circumstance

It is idle but nonetheless interesting to ponder how 20th century music may have developed without WW2 and the modernist rejection of all that had gone before which sprang out of it ( I am aware that the fate of European art music will be some way down most people's list of the consequences of WW2 )These thoughts sprang to mind after listening to this disk of music by Hindemith, music which sounds of the 20th century while growing out of a long tradition but which was cut adrift post war. Now , of course, there is a more tolerant and eclectic climate where all music can hopefully be judged on its own merits. The main work here is Mathis der Maler, the symphony which in fact pre-dated the ill fated ( as in falling foul of the Nazis ) opera on the same theme. It follows on from and is in the same line as Mahler, early Schoenberg etc. The performers here are the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiri Belohlavek. The other two works on the disk could almost be seen as Stravinskian neo-classicist pieces; the Concerto for Winds, Harp and Orchestra ( with soloists from the orchestra ) and Konzertmusik for Brass and Strings. The only other work by Hindemith that I have is the Symphonic Metamorphoses which shares a disk with pieces by Janacek and Prokofiev, so I am happy to supplement that with this disk.