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