Michel Bertignac wrote:

>I have been listening to 3 Piano Sonatas from Hindemith (no 1-2-3) for
>several days now and must admit I am really fascinated ...Hindemith
>seems to have produced a lot of chamber music for small wind instrument
>orchestra and a series of duos for brass instruments and piano. ...if
>you had some suggestions I would be pleased

A good starting point, beyond the piano sonatas, might be Arion ARN 68319,
which contains Hindemith's Sonata for Flute and Piano (1936), the "Piano
Duet" for four-hands piano ('38), the Sonata for 'Cello and Piano op11 #3
('19), and his Sonata for Violin and Piano ('35).  A delightful little
(53-min) collection of various chamber pieces: well played, and the
sound's all right.  Be warned: you'll probably want complete collections
of his cello sonatas, violin-and-piano works, sonatas for winds, etc.
...so doubling up may well be unavoidable.

MD+G's excellent collection of (all?) his Sonatas is worth looking into.
Maybe start with Vol 2 (304 0692-2), which has sonatas, with piano
accompaniment, for: viola d'amore ('22), viola ('22), the 1935 one for
violin we saw above, another one for violin ('39), and one more for viola
('39).  75 minutes long, DDD recording; full-priced but outstanding.

Volume 2 of PH's Sonatas for Winds and Piano is on an Arts (47123-2)
CD.  It includes his Sonatas for Trumpet, Trombone, English Horn, Alto
Saxophone, and Basstuba.  A very solid CD, 60+ minutes long, and also a
DDD recording; mid-priced.

Most of Hindemith's chamber works are worth listening to; I've seldom been
disappointed (yet still looking for a version of his op11 for viola that's
satisfying ...anyone?).  But let me recommend two special items:

Trio for Hecklephone, Viola and Piano, op 47 (1928).  The Hecklephone's
a baritone oboe invented in 1904; I've never heard of anyone else using
it (but what do I know?) This outstanding piece is out on at least two CDs,
I think.  Mine's on a cpo CD with a version of his Sonata for English Horn
and Piano, the Sonata for Oboe and Piano, and Die Serenaden, op 35 -- a
22-min Cantata after Romantic Texts for Soprano, Oboe, Viola, and
Violoncello -- on CPO 999 332-2.

Clarinet Quintet, op 30.  It's on a disc called 'Rendezvous with Tashi'
(RCA Red Seal 7901-2-RC), which is the name of the clarinet quintet group.
It includes an intriguing 17+ min piece by Lukas Foss, who plays piano on
it, as well as jazzy CM works by Alan Shulman and arrangements of music by
George Gershwin.

>[some suggestions] ...even from other composers from the same period and/or
>similar style.  I love for instance "Mladi" from Janacek

Isn't it delightful!? I just discovered it myself.  I'm partial to
his 2 string quartets on Praga Harmonia Mundi 250 108, coupled with his
Violin&Pno Sonata (the Prazak Quartet & Sachiko Kayahara, pno).  Watch out
for a flaw in track 5, at 00:23.  I hear it's been corrected, and await my
unflawed CD

If you like Hindemith, and if it's 20th century chamber music you're after,
you're in luck: there's lots of it.

There must be another couple of dozen highly recommendable 20th
century chamber musicians, but let me just name 3 of my favourites:
Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc and Bohuslav Martinu.  (If you want more,
reach me privately: I've been exploring this very field for 2-3 years,
and there's far more than can ever be conveyed in one posting.)

Happy listening,

Bert Bailey, in Ottawa