Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis

Philip Solomonick, piano
Please note this event occurred in the past.
April 11, 2025, 5:00 pm ET
Music,
Piano,
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Bach Festival & Symposium website Bach Festival & Symposium website
Bezanson Recital Hall, Free

Friday, April 11, 2025 @ 5:00pm, Bezanson Hall, Free

Ludus Tonalis by Paul Hindemith

Philip Solomonick, piano

Part of the 2025 Bach Festival and Symposium, Prelude concerts, "Bach before Bach"
Livestream on YouTube

Ludus Tonalis was intended to be the twentieth-century equivalent to J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.[Unlike Bach's work, though, the non-fugal pieces in Ludus Tonalis frequently repeat the work's main theme.

The piece, which comprises all 12 major and/or minor keys, starts with a three-part Praeludium in C resembling Johann Sebastian Bach's toccatas, and ends with a Postludium which is an exact retrograde inversion of the Praeludium. In between, there are twelve three-part fugues separated by eleven interludes, beginning in the tonality of the previous fugue and ending in the tonality of the next fugue (or in a different tonality very close to that). The tonalities of the fugues follow the order of his Serie 1 and use the keynote C.