Der Schwanendreher

Paul Hindemith's Der Schwanendreher (literally, "The Swan turner") is a concerto for viola and orchestra. Der Schwanendreher occupies a place at the core of the viola concerto repertoire, along with the concertos by Walton and Bartók. It was composed in 1935 and premiered by the composer himself at a performance in Amsterdam on 14 November 1935. Each movement is based on a separate medieval German folk song, thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "Concerto from Old Folk Songs". This composition draws its title from the final movement's folk song base, "Aren't you the swan turner?".

The orchestra calls for 2 flutes (one doubling on piccolo), oboe, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, harp, and a string section of 4 cellos and 3 double basses. This orchestration is uniquely interesting due to its lack of violins and violas which benefits the composition by making it easier for the solo viola to be heard.

The movements are:

The Concerto's title, translated as 'The Swan turner', comes from the name of the last and fourth German folk song used (namely in the third movement), entitled 'Seid ihr nicht der Schwanendreher' ('Are you not the swan turner?'). The original context of 'swan turner' in medieval times is that of a cook's assistant who would turn the handle of a spit on which swans were roasting. However, in the context of the concerto itself (and evidenced in the text of the folk song), the meaning programmatically seems to refer to a wandering medieval minstrel, or organ grinder, who plays on an instrument such as the hurdy-gurdy (and providing embellishments and rhapsodies on the folk tunes), which has a handle shaped as a swan's neck, thus the 'swan turner' being the travelling musician himself, described by the composer in the preface notes to the work.

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