Paul Hindemith's Symphony in E-flat (1940) is the product of his early exile in America, his having abandoned Germany and the Nazi Party for more liberal pursuits. The E-flat Symphony, however, set in a traditional four movements, certainly extends the traditions set by European predecessors. The effective wind writing, the counterpoint, the wry humor, and the light facility of the transitions mark Hindemith's typical mature style. Robust confidence and bombast no less infiltrate the score, a kind of concession to the American sensibility of the period, causing one critic to suggest that this "is among the
best American symphonies written by a German composer."

The brass open the symphony vigorously, the music then exploiting that acerbic lyric quality that Hindemith sports with gusty momentum, the colors bright, decidedly less gloomy than some of his so-called "functional music." Sir Adrian Boult (1889-1983), a conductor who could easily bear the sobriquet "the British Toscanini" for his linear, clear style and literalist predilections, savors the muscular drive and brassy contours of the piece, its often voluminous swagger and sonic assertiveness. Oboe, trombone, and pizzicato strings make their distinctive impression in this vivacious reading from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Alternately pastoral and valedictory, the Symphony in E-flat advocates a version of Walt Whitman heroism, sprightly and unapologetic. The last movement combines plastic and flighty colors with that rigid academism in Hindemith of which the fugue remains the best expression. The finale cannot contain its egocentric bluster, but that, too, seems no less an American character trait.

Hindemith's Symphony in B-flat for Band (1951) premiered on April 5 of that year by the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" in Washington, D.C. Both Arnold Schoenberg and Hindemith were among the first composers to demonstrate that music written for band, could be precise, thematic and beautiful.

The Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band is a 'cornerstone' piece for wind ensemble, one of the most prominent and widely known pieces composed or arranged for band. Each instrument's timbre, or sound quality, is different from any other; by changing the instrument playing a melody, the tone color of that melody is different. Hindemith writes the same melody throughout an entire movement with no interval or rhythmic changes, yet it seems like a different melody idiomatic to each separate set of instruments that play it. The tone color of a melody can also be significantly changed by the number of instruments playing; for example, the solo oboe playing the second theme in movement one sounds significantly different from the full clarinet section playing it a few bars later.

In writing the Symphony in B-flat, Hindemith created a serious work for winds, adding an important facet to the wide variety of orchestral music already in existence.

Frederick Fennell (1914-2004), a pupil of Albert Austin Harding and Serge Koussevitzky, made a career in concert band performance and recording. In Fennell's The New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin declared, "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa." In Fennell devised a new symphonic band organization. This involved scaling the typical concert band down to the wind section of a symphony orchestra, allowing for greater clarity and intonation. Fennell called a meeting of nearly forty players in May 1952. Fennell himself explained that "I chose the best students in the school, and the best solo performers, and the best ensemble players."

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