Keenly interested in the physical possibilities and idiomatic characteristics of each instrument, Hindemith made a point of exploring each on its own terms, and during the last years of the 1930s alone, he wrote sonatas for no less than a dozen instruments. He confided to a friend that his various sonatas were part of his preparation for a "great coup" that he hoped to mount the following year (but, in fact, would not realize until 1957): his monumental symphony Die Harmonie der Welt. Despite their seemingly pragmatic conception, the instrumental sonatas certainly merit consideration outside of the shadow of Hindemith's larger projects.

The work under consideration here, the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, is no exception. The piece exemplifies the coalescence and synthesis of Hindemith's various influences and innovations, conveying a neo-Classical concern for formal balance and a rigorous approach to counterpoint, as well as a less severely constructionist—and ultimately more expressive—approach to mood and melody. The work is cast in four movements, alternating slow or moderate tempos and/or restrained energy with more lively material. The first movement, marked Allegro Moderato, assumes a leisurely pace, with the clarinet and piano trading phrases of a plaintive, long-breathed melody. The harmonic language is adventurous but always lucid, the soft contour of the melody rounding the edges of unexpected tonal trajectories and eventually circling in quietly on the movement's final harmonic center. The second movement, though thematically connected to the first, is much more nimble and the individual parts more assertive. Here the clarinet's lines are more angular and the piano's responses and accompaniment are more insistent; louder dynamics likewise serve to foil the relative repose of the first movement as well. The third movement, in turn, likewise provides a sharp contrast with its "Very Slow" tempo indication, its more dramatic and gestural lines, and its emphasis on minor modalities. The featured instrument enhances the sense of mystery and melancholy in its languorous quasi-cadenza passages, as does the constant interplay of quarter notes and triplets in both clarinet line and piano accompaniment. Hindemith includes for his final movement a "Little Rondo," in which a quirky march figure alternates with various episodes of thematic elaboration. Neither instrument rests for any length of time, but the clarinet frequently assumes an accompanimental role to the piano's more extroverted moments. The movement, and the work, end with a nonchalant reiteration of the main theme, echoed by the wryly nonplused piano.

© Jeremy Grimshaw, All Music Guide