2. Mathis der Maler (symphonic version) Reception
“Culturally bolshevist”, “Atonal noisemaker”
--Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), Nazi Minister of Education
and Propaganda, on Hindemith ca. 1933-34
“A campaign has been launched in certain circles against Paul Hindemith on the
grounds that he is ‘not acceptable’ to the new Germany. Why? What is he accused
of?... His reputation has spread abroad not only because of his skill as a performer
but also due to [the] progressive and pioneering quality of his music. He
deliberately broke with the emotionalism of the Whilhelmine era, the false
romanticism that still lingered after the time of Wagner and Richard Strauss. He
has avoided music that serves philosophical ideas or wallows in an indulgent neo-
romantic sentimentality, as does the music of many of his contemporaries, and he
has instead cultivated the values of straightforwardness, objectivity, and
simplicity…. Eight months ago, when the Mathis Symphony was first heard, the
authorities made no move against Hindemith, perhaps because of an unconscious
reluctance to interfere in the course of the nation’s culture. Now, although he has
published nothing in the meantime, they have decided to mount a campaign of
public vilification against him with the object of forcing him to leave the country.
No tactic seem too petty. They have even sunk to the depths of quoting the
occasional parody of Wagner and Puccini in his works, completely missing the
point of such badinage. Obviously, with a composer who has written so much and
whose works are there in published form for everyone to inspect, it is not
difficult, years after the event, to find youthful indiscretions. Moreover Hindemith
has never engaged in political activity. Where will it lead if we begin to apply the
methods of political denunciation to art?...”
--Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954), conductor, Berlin Phil. Orch., Nov. 1934
3. Matthias Grünewald (ca. 1470-1528), Isenheim Alterpiece for St. Anthony monastery, ca. 1515
closed panels (upper left); open panels (upper right); open inner center panels (below)
4. Hindemith, Mathis der Maler (1933-35; prem. 1938 Switzerland)
Scene 6, entrance 3
Music and Libretto by Hindemith
Opera in 7 scenes. Setting: 16th-Century Germany during the Peasants’ War
Scene 1 – Mathis (baritone) paints at the monastery of St. Anthony for the Catholic Mainz ruler-patron
Cardinal Albrecht (tenor). Peasant leader Schwalb (tenor) enters wounded with his young daughter
Regina (soprano), reproaching Mathis for painting while his fellows fight against the ruling classes. A
cavalry group led by Sylvester (tenor) enters in search of Schwalb and Mathis helps he and Regina escape.
Scene 2 - Albrecht’s citizens are also divided between the Catholic Church and Martin Luther’s reform
movement. Mathis reveals to Ursula (soprano) his love for her, the daughter of a rich Protestant
citizen, Riedinger (bass), on whom Albrecht is dependent on money and asks Albrecht not to obey the
Catholic order to burn Lutheran books. Albrecht wants to join the Lutherans but the dean of Mainz
cathedral Pommersfelden (bass) convinces Albrecht to burn the books. Sylvester enters and condemns
Mathis for letting Schwalb and Regina escape. Mathis pleads for the peasants and asks to be released
from Albrecht’s service to assist his fellow men in the war. Pommersfelden orders Mathis’s arrest, but
Albrecht allows Mathis to go in peace.
Scene 3 – Riedinger’s house, where Lutherans are hiding books. A fire burns outside in the marketplace.
Albrecht’s counselor Capito (tenor) and his soldiers enter and confiscate the books. Capito presents a
letter from Luther urging Albrecht to marry a Protestant to reconcile his people. Ursula is asked to fill this
role. Mathis enters and Ursula begs him to take her away with him. Mathis is conflicted, but opts to stay
and fight with the rebel peasants. They sing their farewell.
Scene 4 – In a ruined village, peasants have captured Count (silent role) and Countess (contralto)
Helfenstein and plan to execute and rape them. Mathis’s plea otherwise is rejected by his fellows.
Schwalb and Regina enter to warn of approaching troops and the persecution is derailed. Schwalb is killed
in battle. Army leader Truchsess von Waldburg (bass) attempts to arrest Mathis but the Countess appeals
for him. Mathis is left with Regina.
Scene 5 – Capito tells Albrecht that if he does not marry a wealthy heiress he will be bankrupt. Albrecht
and Ursula discuss their future and they urge one another to denounce riches and marriage to devote
themselves to reconcile the warring people.
Scene 6 – Mathis and Regina have fled from the fighting and taken refuge in a forest. Mathis sings Regina
to sleep and reflects on his abject state. He has a series of visions. He envisions he is St. Anthony
confronting figures from the past: the Countess (representing luxury), Ursula (as a beggar, prostitute, and
martyr), Schwalb (as warlord), Capito (man of learning), and Pommersfelden (merchant). A chorus of
demons torments him and he (as St. Anthony) then meets St. Paul (who represents Albrecht). The visions
reflect the Isenheim alterpiece panels. St. Paul encourages Mathis to return to his painting to use his gift
for mankind.
Scene 7 – Mathis sits in his studio in Mainz with his work, while Ursula watches over a dying Regina. An
orchestral interlude follows her death. Lights are dimmed then raised. Mathis is alone in his studio, now
bare. Albrecht visits and Mathis tells him his work is done. He is now “like a beast in the forest to seek a
place to die” Mathis packs his few belongings.
6. 1930s Soviet socialist realism
“In the first place, it means knowing life so as to be able to depict it truthfully, in works of art, not to depict it in
a dead, scholastic way, not simply as ‘objective reality,’ but to depict reality in its revolutionary development. In
addition to this, the truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic portrayal should be combined with
the ideological remolding and education of the toiling people in the spirit of socialism. This method in belles
lettres and literary criticism is what we call the method of socialist realism.”
--1934, Andrei Zhdanov on socialist realism (p. 708 in textbook)
“To brand any work as formalistic on the grounds that its language is complex and perhaps not immediately
comprehensible is unacceptably frivolous. Now my main goal is to find my own simple and expressive musical
language. Sometimes the aspiration for a simple language is understood rather superficially. Often ‘simplicity’
merges into epigonism [i.e., sterile imitation]. But to speak simply does not mean to speak as people did 50 or
100 years ago. This is a trap into which many modern composers fall, afraid of being accused of formalism.
Both formalism and epigonism are harmful to Soviet music.”
--1935, Dmitri Shostakovich (p. 714 in textbook)
7. Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35, 1933
Movement I. Allegro moderato (loose sonata-allegro form)
Orchestration: string orchestra an trumpet
Intro
Exposition
Theme 1, m. 5 – rhapsodic theme
Theme 2, m. 45 (1:40) – dance themes
Development (m. 90, 2:58)
Recapitulation
Theme 1, m. 117 (3:43)
Theme 2, m. 130 (4:12)
Coda (m. 164, 5:12)
Theme 1, m. 166
![Mathis der Maler (symphonic version) Reception
“Culturally bolshevist”, “Atonal noisemaker”
--Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), Nazi Minister of Education
and Propaganda, on Hindemith ca. 1933-34
“A campaign has been launched in certain circles against Paul Hindemith on the
grounds that he is ‘not acceptable’ to the new Germany. Why? What is he accused
of?... His reputation has spread abroad not only because of his skill as a performer
but also due to [the] progressive and pioneering quality of his music. He
deliberately broke with the emotionalism of the Whilhelmine era, the false
romanticism that still lingered after the time of Wagner and Richard Strauss. He
has avoided music that serves philosophical ideas or wallows in an indulgent neo-
romantic sentimentality, as does the music of many of his contemporaries, and he
has instead cultivated the values of straightforwardness, objectivity, and
simplicity…. Eight months ago, when the Mathis Symphony was first heard, the
authorities made no move against Hindemith, perhaps because of an unconscious
reluctance to interfere in the course of the nation’s culture. Now, although he has
published nothing in the meantime, they have decided to mount a campaign of
public vilification against him with the object of forcing him to leave the country.
No tactic seem too petty. They have even sunk to the depths of quoting the
occasional parody of Wagner and Puccini in his works, completely missing the
point of such badinage. Obviously, with a composer who has written so much and
whose works are there in published form for everyone to inspect, it is not
difficult, years after the event, to find youthful indiscretions. Moreover Hindemith
has never engaged in political activity. Where will it lead if we begin to apply the
methods of political denunciation to art?...”
--Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954), conductor, Berlin Phil. Orch., Nov. 1934](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)