Material, we hear, moved to and fro (6)
I believe the answer is:
swayed
'moved to and fro' is the definition.
(to sway is to move to and fro)
'material we hear' is the wordplay.
'material' becomes 'suede' (suede is a kind of material).
'we hear' shows a homophone (sound like).
'suede' sounds like 'SWAYED'.
(Other definitions for swayed that I've seen before include "was unstable" , "Ruled; influenced" , "Teetered or influenced" , "Brought round" , "Moved back and forth or sideways" .)