Paul Hindemith: Concerto for Cello & Orchestra (1940) / Theme & Four Variations "The Four Temperaments" (1940)
The two works on this disc are from 1940, the year when Hindemith was finally persuaded by  various American friends to leave war-torn Europe. Hindemith was also ready to leave his experiments of  youth behind. These works are from that early mature period. The Concerto for Cello and Orchestra is a  masterful balance of harmonic forces at work between the solo instrument and the orchestra. Hindemith's  Theme and Four VariationsThe Four Temperamentsbegan life as a ballet, but ended up as suite for  solo piano and strings. Though not a concerto, it still gives the soloist enough to do.--Paul Cook