Gordon Cherry has been running Cherry Classics for over 20 years. He is a leading professional Trombonist in North America, having performed as Principal Trombonist of the Vancouver Symphony, and the CBC Radio Orchestra. As well, Gordon has taught hundreds of Brass students for over 30 years at the University of British Columbia and many international leading music festivals.Details
Stücke for Cello and Bassoon, written in 1941 by Paul Hindemith has been a studio favorite of mine for many years. The four pieces are “different,” and just that one thing makes them of keen interest to me. Each of the four pieces is in a unique style. They speak a different musical language, or rather, musical dialect. Austere, with no dynamics or expression markings they carry the composer’s trademark sound with many perfect fourths and fifths, not just in the harmony but also the melodic line. Hindemith did not experiment with twelve-tone or serial style which ran rampant in most musical “circles” during the first half of the 20th Century. He developed his own style of composition and stuck to it with amazing success. He was a musical genius with enemies on all sides. Labeled by the avant-garde musical community as a conservative and marked as a “degenerate” by Hitler’s Nazi regime, he fled Germany in 1938 and eventually moved to America in 1940, saving his life and that of his Jewish wife. Hindemith presented this music as a gift to the eminent Austrian musicologist émigré Dr. Karl Geringer in 1941. The Four Pieces, only little more than 4 and a half minutes in length, are perfect for a good sight reading challenge (which should be part of every lesson), just difficult enough to keep the student on the edge of their seat. They can be performed by intermediate level players, however, there are some F-attachment notes in both parts which can be played in the upper octave if needed. I have purposely left out the optional octaves just to keep the parts uncluttered.
