VIOLA D'AMORE IN PAUL HINDEMITH'S LIFE AND COMPOSITIONAL PRACTICE: THE DISCOVERING OF THE INSTRUMENT IN A MODERNIST AESTHETIC (ON EXAMPLES OF KAMMERMUSIK ОР. 46, № 1 AND KLEIN SONATA OP. 25, № 2)

Abstract

The article explores the peculiarities of perception of the viola d'amore by the prominent 20th-century German composer Paul Hindemith. The significant interest of the artist in ancient genres and forms, the reinterpretation of which in the spirit of neoclassical aesthetics formed both the composer's individual style as a whole and the character of most of his instrumental works in particular, is noted. Separately, the polyphonic aspect is indicated as the main characteristic of Hindemith's texture in instrumental creativity. References to the viola d'amore in the scientific and creative practice of P. Hindemith and generally in the biographical context are examined. The most significant events are listed: the creation of an individual replica of the viola d'amore by Oygen Shprenger, the study of Baroque works with a solo part for this instrument, essays and lectures dedicated to it. The fact of P. Hindemith's systematic interest in the possibilities of the viola d'amore, which also allows it to be considered as a component of the composer's experiments with ancient music, is proven. The stylistics of two of P. Hindemith's works featuring this instrument as a soloist – «Kammermusik No. 6» (Op. 46 No. 1) and Klein Sonata (Op. 25, No. 2) – is analyzed. The genre-stylistic features of both works are established, which combine Baroque genres at different levels of integrity (prelude, fugue, sonata, ostinato variations, concerto form) and features of harmonic language reflecting the neoclassical aesthetics of the artist in the 1920s and later. The peculiarities of the instrumental part of the viola d'amore, in which virtuosity, melodic work, and harmonic language according to reinterpreted tonality are combined, which constituted the essence of P. Hindemith's tonal system, are emphasized. The conclusion is drawn that the composer's interest in the viola d'amore should be considered as part of the interest in ancient Baroque music, the fact of which has been repeatedly established by various researchers.