A Life In and With Music

Paul Hindemith

Hindemith, who concerned himself with nearly all areas of musical life as composer, instrumentalist, conductor, pedagogue, music theoretician, musicologist, and organizer, left an extensive legacy that is one of the most important sources concerning music and views of music during the first half of the twentieth century.

—[Hindemith Institute website] Link in Resources.

Art in the Twentieth Century—A Moral Dilemma

It has become evident that in the twentieth century the condition of art in Western culture has undergone a transformation that few could have envisaged one hundred years ago. The reasons for this transformation are many and varied including the influence of technology, the media, multiculturalism, commercialism, the increased emphasis on visual media and various philosophical, ideological and social changes.

Perhaps the most significant philosophical change in our attitudes about art is that religion, for so long the “moral compass” of society, is no longer the potent force in guiding society in the matters of morality and ethics, resulting a condition of increased moral and ethical relativism. One result of an increasingly secular society has been that artists are less aware of the moral and ethical power of art and in many cases have slipped into a relativist mindset regarding their creative endeavors.

Consider the views of early twentieth-century German composer, Paul Hindemith, regarding the state of modern music in the first half of the century:

There are composers: “…who flatly deny the ethic power of music, nor do they admit any moral obligation on the part of those writing. For them, music is essentially a play with tones, and although they spend a considerable amount of intelligence and craftsmanship to make it look important, their composition can be of no greater value, as a sociological factor, than bowling or skating.”

For Hindemith, the composer who has become aware of the beacons that lead to truth and perfection: [See the passage in Context above.]

The moral and ethical implications of Hindemith’s statements are deeply profound and insightful. For many artists in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, aligning with the Nazi party (or not) became a life-and-death decision. In his opera Mathis der Maler (composed in 1933-34) the narrative deals with the responsibility of the artist in the face of a corrupt aristocracy and the “moral and ethical power” of the arts.

—David Eaton [Music as a Moral and Ethical Force in Society (2012)].

Additional Paul Hindemith Quotes

“To sum up, we could say that for the artistic problems of our time there is no such thing as a universal remedy – as there is for the training of the creative talent. But just as on a journey through a tunnel a tiny pinprick of light holds the promise of the brightness and breadth of the day ahead, so we should in a single phrase throw light on the position and purpose of the composer. It is a summons, a request and an exhortation: think not of yourself but always ask, what can I give to my neighbor.

The ultimate reason for this humility will be the musician’s conviction that beyond all the rational knowledge he has amassed and all his dexterity as a craftsman there is a region of visionary irrationality in which the veiled secrets of art dwell, sensed but not understood, implored but not commanded, imparting but not yielding. He cannot enter this region, he can only pray to be elected one of its messengers. If his prayers are granted and he, armed with wisdom and gifted with reverence for the unknowable, is the man whom heaven has blessed with the genius of creation, we may see in him the donor of the precious present we all long for: the great music of our time.”

—Paul Hindemith [“A Composer’s World”].

“Scientists, working in the field of musical research – philosophers, psychologists, musicologists – could have done much to clarify this muddled situation. Instead of asking hecatombs of average-minded Versuchspersonen how they listened to music and what their feelings were while perceiving it, would it not have been more instructive to ask the musician, particularly the creative musician, how he obtained this or that emotional reaction and what kind of stimulus he used ?

Science seems to display exactly the same kind of diffidence when faced with music as musicians show towards science. Each seems to feel itself disturbed in its familiar hunting grounds when the other is around… The answers to these questions will only be forthcoming when excellent scientists, interested in music instead of collecting data about music (almost exclusively music of the past at that!), come into close collaboration with excellent musicians interested in science.”

—Paul Hindemith [“Perceiving Music Emotionally”].

Esther Walker

“The collaboration between art and science! An early postulation of an idea which today, decades after Hindemith’s death, is experiencing a real boom in the neurosciences.”

—Esther Walker [On the Piano Music of Paul Hindemith].