Sonata for Harp
by Paul Hindemith
Composed in 1939 as part of Hindemith's systematic project to produce a substantial work for every major instrument, the Sonata for Harp is the most rigorously demanding piece in the solo harp repertoire and the most important 20th-century harp work outside the French tradition. Hindemith's characteristically linear, contrapuntal language places unprecedented demands on the harpist: the three movements — a vigorous Lebhaft, a warmly lyrical Langsam, and a fugal Lebhaft — require complete command of complex polyphonic textures and a technique capable of sustaining continuous counterpoint in a way that runs entirely counter to the instrument's natural arpeggiated idiom. The result is a work of unique severity and intellectual rigour that has become a rite of passage for the most ambitious professional harpists and a regular feature of international competition programmes.
Editions
Schott Music
Paul Hindemith, 1940
Original composer-authorised edition; the primary performing text and the basis for all subsequent editions.
Schott Music
Editorial staff, 1968
Revised reprint with corrected engraving and additional performance notes; the standard international performing text.
Schott Music
Editorial staff, 1982
Study score edition with analytical introduction on Hindemith's Unterweisung im Tonsatz system as applied in the Sonata.