1936 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival
The 1936 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival was the fourteenth edition of the festival. Held in Barcelona from 19 to 23 April 1936, just three months before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, it was one of the last major cultural events of the Second Spanish Republic. This edition is best remembered for the posthumous world premiere of Alban Berg's Violin Concerto on its inaugural day.
Programme
The compositions were selected in Barcelona from 28 December 1935 to 1 January 1936 by a jury formed by Ernest Ansermet, Edward J. Dent, Joan Lamote de Grignon, Anton Webern and Bolesław Woytowicz. Knudåge Riisager could not attend the meeting.
| Date and location | Composers | Compositions | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 19, 11:15 Palau de les Belles Arts | Wladimir Vogel Josep Maria Ruera Ricard Lamote de Grignon Florent Schmitt | Devise Three Symphonic Movements Joan de l'Os Dyonisiaques | Mercedes Plantada, soprano; Ricardo Fusté, baritone; Conrado Giralt, bass Orfeó de Sant, Orfeó Montserrat de Gràcia, Schola Cantorum de Sant Miquel Arcàngel Barcelona Municipal Band – Ricard Lamote de Grignon |
| April 19, 17:30 Palau de la Música Catalana | Edmund von Borck Robert Gerhard Ernst Krenek Alban Berg | Prelude and Fugue Ariel Fragments from Karl V Violin Concerto Fragments from Wozzeck | Leonor Meyer, soprano Louis Krasner, violin Pau Casals Orchestra – Ernest Ansermet, Hermann Scherchen1 |
| April 20, 22:00 Palau de la Música Catalana | Robert Blum Ludwig Zenk Mark Brunswick Václav Kaprál Jacques Ibert | Three Psalms Piano Sonata Two Movements for Quartet Lullabies Concertino da camera | Alice Frey and Jurmila Vavrdová, sopranos Robert Georg, piano; Sigurd Raschèr, saxophone Galimir Quartet Karel Ančerl, Ernest Ansermet and Jacques Ibert, conductors |
| April 21, 18:00 Casal del Metge | Walter Piston Egon Wellesz Benjamin Britten André Souris Manuel Blancafort Béla Bartók | Flute Sonata Sonnet for soprano and quartet Suite for violin and piano Quelques airs de Clarisse de Jurenville Les ombres perennes String Quartet No. 5 | Concepción Badía and Panny Cleve, sopranos; Marie Lancelot, contraltro Antonio Brosa, violin; Esteban Gratacós, flute Benjamin Britten, Winifred Hooke, Alejandro Vilalta, Pere Vallribera, piano New Hungarian Quartet |
| April 22, 22:00 Palau de la Música Catalana | Carl Ruggles Albert Roussel Frank Martin Rodolfo Halffter Marcel Mihalovici Roman Palester | Sun Treader Symphony No. 4 Piano Concerto Don Lindo de Almería Violin Concerto (Quasi una Fantasia) Polish Dances | Walter Frey, piano; Stefan Frankel, violin Madrid Philharmonic – Ernest Ansermet, Bartolomé Pérez Casas and Pedro Sanjuán |
| April 23, 22:00 Palau de la Música Catalana | Lennox Berkeley Karl Alfred Deutsch Karol Szymanowski Federico Elizalde Lars-Erik Larsson | Overture Symphony Violin Concerto No. 2 Sinfonia Concertante Concert Overture No. 2 | Leopoldo Querol, piano; Stefan Frankel, violin Madrid Symphony – Enrique Fernández Arbós |
1 Anton Webern was scheduled to conduct Berg's Concerto and Krenek's Karl V, but he was replaced respectively by Scherchen and Ansermet, who also conducted the other three compositions.