Symphonia Serena

Paul Hindemith composed the fourmovement Symphonia Serena in 1946 for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra shortly af- 13 ter having received American citizenship. The work’s cheerfully serene character is particularly evident in the second movement Geschwindmarsch by Beethoven [quick march], Hindemith’s humorous paraphase of Beethoven’s Military March No. 1 (‘Yorckscher’) WoO 18 composed in 1809; the motifs of this work shine through the entire movement, entwined in playful counterpoint. While the third movement is purely scored for strings, the paraphrase is exclusively reserved for brass and percussion instruments in the finest military band Tradition.