This volume of the Hindemith Complete Edition contains two works which were written as commissions for American orchestras. They are associated with each other not only through their chronological proximity but also through their taking up and arranging other compositions. All four movements of the Symphonic Metamorphosis are based on works by Carl Maria von Weber while the second movement of Symphonia Serena was inspired by Beethoven.

Symphonic Metamorphosis (1943) - Symphonia Serena (1946)