*1895 Hanau – †1963 Frankfurt am Main
Paul Hindemith spent 22 years of his life in Frankfurt. Aged 12, he began his studies at the Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory, first the violin, and later, composition and counterpoint under Arnold Mendelssohn and Bernhard Sekles.
The Frankfurt opera orchestra originally employed the 19-year-old Hindemith as a violinist in the first violin section, and then promoted him to the position of leader of the orchestra. In 1923, he moved into the Kuhhirtenturm (a late Gothic edifice, part of the former fortifications of Frankfurt) and soon after married Gertrud, daughter of Ludwig Rottenberg, the Kapellmeister of the opera orchestra. The 1920s were one of the most productive and eventful periods of Hindemith’s life. For many years, Frankfurt continued to play an important role in his career. In the 1930s, when the National Socialists grew increasingly repressive towards him and his work, Hindemith would spend much time in the Frankfurt to escape from the political turmoil in Berlin.
Hindemith was forced to emigrate in 1938 and became a US citizen in 1946, but he kept in touch with the Music Academy in Frankfurt, founded in 1947, for the rest of his life.
In 1974, the Hindemith Institute was established in Frankfurt as a branch of the Fondation Hindemith of Blonay, Switzerland. The Hindemith Institute Frankfurt is dedicated to researching the composer’s legacy and to presenting its findings to the public.
Further information: www.hindemith.org