Search - Antoine Tamestit :: Bratsche!

One of todays leading viola players worldwide, Antoine Tamestit has dedicated his new recording to German composer Paul Hindemith, whose 50th anniversary of death is celebrated in 2013. Hindemith has been renowned as a brilliant viola player whose composition output for this instrument ranges from solo pieces to concertos. The recording features one of the major German orchestras conducted by leading conductor Paavo Järvi. Those who examine Hindemiths extremely diverse oeuvre without prejudice will discover the most varied facets in his music. The early works still radiate late Romantic and Impressionistic sonorities, but one can already detect in them (in the last movement of the Sonata op.11 no.4, for example) the terse humour and provocative edge that were shortly to become characteristic of his music. He enjoyed directly juxtaposing movements full of boundless energy with others of extreme restraint (as in the contrasting movements of the Viola Sonata op.25 no.1). Finally, a vein of melancholy and the expression of resignation can be heard in Der Schwanendreher and the Trauermusik, composed in times of oppression. -- Excerpt from the inside notes