Paul Hindemith was born in Hanau on 16 November 1895. He studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt/Main violin and composition with Adolf Rebner, Arnold Mendelssohn, Bernhard Sekles and Fritz Bassermann. At the age of 20 he became first violin of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra. He had the possibility to play string quartets during his army service, after which he returned to Frankfurt, playing the viola-part in the Amar Quartett from 1921 to 1929. In 1921 he was involved in the foundation of the Donaueschinger Musiktage, where the first performance of his string quartet op. 22 secured him great reputation. In 1927 Hindemith was appointed professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and in 1929, he gave the first performance of William Walton's Viola Concerto. Hindemith's career as a composer prospered in the thirties, but - as did many others – he suffered with the advent of Hitler and after 1933, his works dissappeared from the concert programmes. He became a exile first in Switzerland (1938), then in America (1940), taking the american citizenship in 1946 and lecturing at the Yale University. In 1951 he accepted the position of a professor in Zurich where he finally settled in 1953. Not only as a leading composer of our century, but also as conductor, teacher, performer and philosopher Hindemith has obtained an assured place in musical history. Hindemith's oeuvre includes compositions of every genre: orchestral works, solo-concertos, chamber music for various instruments, choral works, lieder, operas and ballets. As a musical theoretician he is the author of numerous books and essays. He died in Frankfurt in 1963.
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Nato ad Hanau, in Germania, nel 1895, Hindemith si rivela abile violinista fin da fanciullo e nel 1909 entra al conservatorio di Francoforte. Molto presto intraprende la pratica musicale e nel 1915 diviene primo violino all’Opera di Francoforte. Passa quindi alla viola e nel 1921 fonda il quartetto Amar-Hindemith con il quale compie numerose tournées. Contemporaneamente si fa conoscere come compositore con opere che gli procurano la fama di enfant terrible della musica. L’avvento del nazismo scatena contro di lui una violenta campagna e la sua musica viene annoverata tra l’arte degenerata, nonostante riproponga in termini moderni uno stile legato alla tradizione tedesca del contrappunto. Costretto a lasciare la Germania, dapprima Hindemith raggiunge la Turchia, dove il governo lo incarica di riorganizzare la vita musicale del paese: infine, dopo un breve soggiorno in Svizzera, durante la Seconda guerra mondiale si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti come insegnante nei corsi estivi di Tanglewood e all’università di Yale. Nel 1947 rientra in Europa e dopo qualche anno si stabilisce definitivamente in Svizzera dove, a partire dal 1951, insegna all’università di Zurigo. Muore a Francoforte nel 1963.