The composition of the Concerto for Trumpet, Bassoon, and Strings represents a rare case in which the extraordinarily fluent Paul Hindemith nearly failed to meet a commission deadline. The composer received the commission as part of the festivities surrounding the 150th Anniversary of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences; the work was scheduled for performance in the autumn of 1949. Although he received the commission in June, 1948, Hindemith did not "finish" the work until September 30, 1949 (Evidently finding it still incomplete, he also added a third movement in 1952.) The reasons for this uncharacteristic delay are not known; there is no mention of the work in the composer's diary until an entry of September 29 - 30, which reads, "much written (Trumpet-Bassoon-Concerto)." Can it be that Hindemith actually wrote the whole two-movement, sixteen-minute piece in those two days? He had demonstrated such facility before (his seven-minute, fully scored Trauermusik was written wholly on the day following the death of King George V of England; the final movement of his Sonata for Solo Viola (Op. 31/1), on a train ride from Bremen to Frankfurt). The work was premiered, on time, at the Yale University Gallery of Art on November 4, 1949. Following its earliest performances in Europe, German commentators noted its Bachian elements, youthful spirit, and, for Hindemith, a newly romantic quality.

© Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide