Mathis der Maler

Opera by Paul Hindemith (libretto by composer), produced in Zürich on 28 May 1938. The painter of the title is Matthias Grünewald (15th-16th centuries).

The plot of the opera - in which Grunewald sides with peasants against the Church authorities, but retreats into his art after witnessing the cruel reality of life - was a thinly disguised metaphor for Hindemith's own struggles against the Nazis. The political climate was too dangerous for Hindemith to have a performance staged in Germany, however he wrote the Symphony: Mathis der Maler using material from the opera; it was performed in Berlin on 12 March 1934, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. The three movements are based on an extant triptych by Grunewald: they are entitled Engelkonzert/Concert of Angels, Grablegung/Entombment, and Versuchung des heiligen Antonius/The Temptation of St Anthony.