HINDEMITH: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber ii. Turandot: Scherzo

This is my favorite symphony in the world, plain and simple. Ever since my sophomore year in high school when I was introduced to the music of Paul Hindemith, he has pretty much had me enthralled, and I've loved learning about him.
When I studied with Nancy King at UofM we talked a lot about Hindemith in my lessons, I was working his Sonatas for Oboe and English Horn at the time. She told me that one of the most important things to keep in mind with his music is that when Hindemith came to the United States, the first two types of music that he heard were the ones that influenced him the greatest. Those two types were patriot songs\school fight songs and jazz. The fight song style can relaly be heard famously in the fourth movement of this piece the March, and I really feel like the rhythm in the Scherzo gives it a lot of jazz-like qualities. These two types of music are so present throughout the Symphonic metamorphosis, that its clear to the listener that my oboe teacher was in fact correct.
The scherzo is is probably the most difficult of the four movements just because it really carries out the expectations of any great symphony work. It is extremely demanding of each and every part respectively and requires that the instrumentalists play in an extremely virtuostic\soloistic manner. The texture changes so quickly from the dense, full sound of a full orchestra, thick with low brass, to say an English Horn solo at the drop of a hat, its important that the members of the orchestra really be on top of things at every second, or at least that is my take on this piece having played it several times...
The other big thing about Hindemith is RHYTHM. He was obsessive when it came to different rhythmic motives, and the scherzo's difficulty level is due to the complicated rhythms combined with the sometimes sparse texture. The middle section of the piece really gets complicated as the theme gets twisted into somewhat of a fugue section, and is passed to nearly every instrumental section.
The at a first listen, the coolest thing about this piece is the general ambiance that it creates. It sets a precedent for the rest of the piece, and gives kind of a kooky, spooky tone to the overall work as a whole, something that I think Hindemith was also fond of in his work.