Overview
Introduction
The Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Harp, and Strings is Hindemith's reflection upon the concerto grosso. As in Baroque examples, the soloists (concertino) and the accompanying body (ripieno) are generally cast as cooperative elements rather than as antagonists. The only exception in the present work appears in the first movement, where a cadenza, more characteristic of Classical and later concerti, appears: the soloists here unite as a single virtuosic body.
The now-American Hindemith was commissioned to write the Concerto for the fifth Festival of Contemporary American Music in 1949. As the festival was scheduled for May 9 - 15 of that year, Hindemith requested that his work be premiered on the 15th, the date of his silver wedding anniversary. Indeed, he surprised his wife, Gertrude, at the premiere by incorporating into the work quotations of the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
