Cardillac

work by Hindemith

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June 22, 2026

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Cardillac is an opera by the German composer Paul Hindemith, first performed in 1926. The opera is based on the story Das Fräulein von Scuderi by E.T.A. Hoffmann. It tells the story of a goldsmith who murders his customers to reclaim his creations. Hindemith was a significant composer and music theorist of the 20th century, known for his efforts to revitalize tonality and for pioneering Gebrauchsmusik, or "utility music". Cardillac was an early work that established Hindemith as a leading composer of his generation.12

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Paul Hindemith
…of Mary”); and the opera Cardillac (1926), based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Das Fräulein von Scuderi (“The Girl from Scuderi”). By the late 1920s Hindemith was regarded as the foremost German composer of his generation.
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…of Mary”); and the opera Cardillac (1926), based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Das Fräulein von Scuderi (“The Girl from Scuderi”). By the late 1920s Hindemith was regarded as the foremost German composer of his generation.
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E.T.A. Hoffmann
…as did Paul Hindemith in Cardillac (1926) and Jacques Offenbach in The Tales of Hoffmann (1881), in which Hoffmann himself is the central figure. The ballet Coppélia (1870), by Léo Delibes, is also based on a Hoffmann story, as is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet suite, The Nutcracker (1892).
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…as did Paul Hindemith in Cardillac (1926) and Jacques Offenbach in The Tales of Hoffmann (1881), in which Hoffmann himself is the central figure. The ballet Coppélia (1870), by Léo Delibes, is also based on a Hoffmann story, as is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet suite, The Nutcracker (1892).
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