Interesting, isn't it, that while I can't recall what music was played that day, the teacher's particular prejudice has remained with me for forty-five years. If anything, this incident demonstrates that students should always be willing to question their teachers' prejudices. Perhaps he could have explained his Hindemith problem and thereby taught us how, instead of what, to think. (If this isn't a recommendation for homeschooling, I don't know of one.) Regardless, anyone would do well to play this extraordinary and accessible piece of music in the hearing of children of any age.
On the first movement, Michael Steinberg writes
The music begins in slow solemnity, three softly luminous G-major string chords punctuating rising woodwind phrases. (Many things in Mathis happen in threes.) This introduction done, trombones gently sing an old German song, Es Sungen drei Engel ein' sussen Gesang (Three angels were singing a sweet song). Hindemith himself pointed to folk song, Reformation war songs, and Gregorian chant as the 'nourishing soil' in which Mathis grew. 'Es sungen drei Engel' is also heard three times, raised at each occurrence by a major third and moving from trombones through horns to the A-major brightness of trumpets with woodwinds and glockenspiel. The main part of the movement begins, striding energetically in duple meter [the symphony's most familiar theme]. At the height of the elaborately contrapuntal development the three angels return, splendidly illuminated, and after a highly condensed recapitulation the movement ends grandly, in G major.1
The piece flows seamlessly, in contrast to many recent large works that appear to have been cut and pasted together or being merely derivative. Unlike so much of today's music written mainly to excite, Mathis is not just exciting but inspiring, and—dare I say—uplifting and is so integrated that it might have been written in one setting. Because, of course, it wasn't, Hindemith's achievement (as well of those of other great composers) is that much more remarkable in that it exemplifies an original but, more important, an organized mind. Mathis is an example of what a not only creative but also learned, trained and disciplined intellect can accomplish, starting with a simple theme and building to a grand edifice of coherent sounds, a complex entity that yet can be comprehended and appreciated by anyone. Searching for and contemplating the best works of man must be a major component of learning.
The first movement rarely fails to bring tears to my eyes but why take my word for it? And don't stop at the 1st movement! The third, in addition to being half again as long as the first, is even more rich and complex and will entrance any musically inclined child. Play it and let them figure it out. Even for those, like children, having limited musical knowledge, there's much to be learned from dedicated listening to this work.
Recommended: Emi Classics 55230, Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra, from 1995. "This disc received 1996 Grammy nominations for 'Classical Producer Of The Year' and 'Best Orchestral Performance.'"
1. Steinberg, M., (1998), The Symphony: A Listener's Guide, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 254
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