
Orlando Sentinel

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)

Many celebrated musicians and composers have cycled through the Yale faulty, and continue to do so to this day, often as "visiting" artists. But the German-born composer and theorist Paul Hindemith was an anchoring presence at Yale, and a bona fide resident of New Haven for 13 years, beginning in 1940. Hindemith was always more known and admired in academic music circles than among regular concertgoers (a fact that is still true) but his arrival marked a major step forward for Yale's School of Music. Yale lore holds that he could be as dour and intimidating as his scowling Teutonic face would suggest. But his roster of devoted students is impressive, including names such as Lukas Foss and Norman Dello Joio. Hindemith trivia: he was also the teacher of Mitch Leigh, who composed the score to "Man of La Mancha," and George Roy Hill, who forsook music to become a Hollywood film director, and whose credits included "The Sting" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Courtesy of Yale School of Music