Paul Hindemith Born in 1895, Paul Hindemith became one of the most prestigious composers of those the Reich chose to exile or ban. Avante Garde, even in his youth, he stood against the political malaise in the art of the early 20th century in Germany and was considered 'definitional' regarding the dilemma of the artist in society. He was however not opposed as some to 'utilitarian' art, or art for a purpose, not sensing the exclusivity of 'art for art's sake'. He proposed the concept of Gebrauchmusik, or 'utility music'. The concept of 'utility music' is often defamed as to some it meant only commissioned work according to need, but Hindemith saw it as 'art with purpose' affecting the society it came from. Hindemith was known for his great volume of work with a Bach-like influence, although experimenting with atonal music. His orchestrations were aided by his prowess as an instrumentalist

In 1933, during the Nazi Regime, he among others was declared 'degenerate kunste', due to what the Reich termed his "cultural bolshevism'---a term which technically referred to bolshevik or communist sympathizers, but came to mean all who opposed the new Reich order and philosophies applied to all levels of society including the Arts. (See Gleichschaltung . As Nazi politicians came to rule art, placing party loyalists in positions of control, several of his works were banned, but most particularly, "Mathis the Painter", which reflected his aesthetic philosophy of 'art against society' ¹ The story of the work reflects an peasant's revolt (the concern of the Nazis), and the Nazis felt it was 'poking fun' at the new Order. Veiled, albeit lightly veiled works of protest were prevalent at the time, as in 'Brundibar' and 'The Emperor of Atlantis' by other authors in Terezin. Hindemith expressed later that the reason for the ban of his work was his challenge of politicians' rights to control the art world and performances, i.e. censorship. In 1934, he was exiled, although the censoring of his work forced the work into worldwide attention. He settled in the US in 1939 where for the rest of his life he influenced the development of modern American music and Film music.A few of his other works include Kammersmusik and Konzertmuzik .

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