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Ludus Tonalis ("Play of Tones", "Tonal Game", or "Tonal Primary School" after the Latin Ludus Litterarius), subtitled Kontrapunktische, tonale, und Klaviertechnische Übungen (Counterpoint, tonal and technical studies for the piano), is a piano work by Paul Hindemith that was composed in 1942 during his stay in the United States. It was first performed in 1943 in Chicago by Willard MacGregor. The piece explores "matters of technique, theory, inspiration, and communication. It is in effect, a veritable catalogue of the composer's mature style."<ref>Satola, Mark (2005). "Ludus Tonalis", All Music Guide to Classical Music, p.612. Hal Leonard. Template:ISBN.</ref>
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 (see The Craft of Musical Composition).<ref>Tippett, Michael (1995). Tippett on Music, p.77. Oxford University. Template:ISBN.</ref>
Ludus Tonalis was intended to be the twentieth-century equivalent to J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.<ref name="vignal">Vignal, Marc (1990). Liner notes to Hindemith: Sonata no. 2 and Ludus Tonalis, performed by Sviatoslav Richter. Pyramid Records, no. 13497.</ref> Unlike Bach's work, though, the non-fugal pieces in Ludus Tonalis frequently repeat the work's main theme.Template:Citation needed
Ludus Tonalis can be thought of as the most direct application of Hindemith's theory that the twelve tones of the equally tempered scale all relate to a single one of them (called a tonic or keynote). The affinity of each note with the keynote is directly related to its position on the harmonic scale. In this system, the major-minor duality is meaningless and the practice of modulation is dropped,<ref name="vignal"/> although subject modulation occurs in the second fugue, to create growing tension.
The first performance of Ludus Tonalis in Italy was played by Eunice Katunda in 1948 at the Teatro Piccolo in Milan.
StructureEdit
Ludus Tonalis consists of 25 movements:<ref name="bruhn">Bruhn, Siglind (1996). "Symmetry and dissymmetry in Paul Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis", Symmetry: Culture and Science, vol. 7, no. 2, 116–132.</ref>
- Praeludium. Partly in C (mm. 1–32) and partly in FTemplate:Music (mm. 34–47)
- Fuga prima in C: Triple fugue
- Interludium: Romantic improvisation
- Fuga secunda in G: Dance in Template:Music time
- Interludium: Pastorale
- Fuga tertia in F: Mirror fugue, where the second half is an exact retrograde of the first, except with voice paddings at their end exits.
- Interludium: Folk dance (Gavotte)
- Fuga quarta in A: Double fugue
- Interludium: Baroque prelude
- Fuga quinta in E: Gigue
- Interludium: Romantic miniature (Chopin style)
- Fuga sexta in ETemplate:Music: Rococo style
- Interludium: March
- Fuga septima in ATemplate:Music: Romantic style
- Interludium: Romantic miniature (Brahms style)
- Fuga octava in D: Dance in Template:Music time (though notated in Template:Music)
- Interludium: Baroque toccata
- Fuga nona in BTemplate:Music: Subject transformation fugue
- Interludium: Pastorale
- Fuga decima in DTemplate:Music: Inversion fugue
- Interludium: Folk dance (Courante)
- Fuga undecima in B (canon): Accompanied canon
- Interludium: Romantic waltz
- Fuga duodecima in FTemplate:Music: Stretto fugue
- Postludium: Retrograde inversion of the Praeludium.
There is a striking symmetry around the center of the cycle (the march).<ref name="bruhn"/>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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