A perspective on Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis
A perspective on Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis

Summary/Abstract: Paul Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, composed in 1942 in New Haven (U.S.A.), is a work of great importance and depth in the world’s piano music. It was originally published in 1943 by the Associated Music Publisher and received its first performance in Chicago, on February 15, 1943, by pianist Willard McGregor. Ludus Tonalis contains 25 ingeniously arranged pieces: 12 fugues based on the 12 tones of Hindemith's Series 1, preceded by a prelude, followed by a postlude and connected by 11 interludes. The three-part fugues represent the core of the cycle. The cycle is about 50 minutes long without interruption, with each piece lasting no longer than four minutes, which makes it at times difficult for an inexperienced listener to follow. Ludus Tonalis was written in strict accordance with Hindemith’s theoretical principles set forth in his Unterweisung im Tonsatz [The Craft of Musical Composition], being based on his own concepts of compositional and piano techniques. It also demonstrates Hindemith‘s compositional mastery and structural logic, reflected in a fluent and beautiful contrapuntal writing. Like Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Ludus Tonalis does not claim to be other than an exercise containing fugues in all keys. The difference lies in the order of the pieces and of the basic tones. Shortly after its appearance, Paul Hindemith’s last composition for solo piano became an important work of pedagogical interest, as well as a frequent presence in concert halls. The composer proved himself not only a great observer of tradition and cultivator of sensibility, but also a trailblazer.

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