Paul Hindemith was a composer, conductor, musician, and professor born in Germany in 1895. After a formal education as a violinist, he pursued his studies in Frankfurt, learning music theory and composition. He supported himself by playing in orchestras, before being conscripted by the Imperial German army in 1917, near the end of WWI. He was sent to the front in the Flanders in 1918 and nearly died when his regiment was attacked by grenades.
The post-war period was a prolific one for the composer, and he was part of the new school of music, the “new objectivity style,” which can be described as neo-Bachian. The Third Reich period was a difficult one for Hindemith, as his music was officially banned in 1936. He had to leave his country and settled briefly in Turkey and in the US, where he moved permanently in the 40s. He, however, returned to Europe a decade later and settled in Switzerland to teach. After retiring from teaching in the mid-50s, he devoted his time to composing, recording, and conducting his own works. He died of pancreatitis in 1963 at the age of 68, leaving behind no children but a huge musical catalog, with famous pieces such as the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber and Mathis der Maler.
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