Jury
Boris Blacher
Karl-Birger Blomdahl
Rolf Liebermann
Roger Sessions
Roman Vlad
Concerts
Friday. 31 May 1957 – Concert of electronic music under the direction of Luciano Berio and Alfredo Lietti (music realized at the Studio di Fonologia della RAI Milano)
Henri Pousseur (Belgium [Wallonia], b. 1929; d. 2009): Scambi (Exchanges) (1957) [7′];
Bruno Maderna (Italy, b. 1920; d. 1973): Notturno (1956) [4′];
Luciano Berio (Italy, b. 1925; d. 2003): Perspectives (1957) [7′];
Luciano Berio: Mutazioni (1956) [3′];
Bruno Maderna: Syntaxis (1956) [11′].
Saturday, 1 June 1957 – orchestral concert performed by the Tonhalle-Orchester
Juan José Castro (Argentina, b. 1895; d. 1968): Corales Criollos No. 3 (1953) [20′];
+ Sergei Prokofiev (Soviet Union, 1891-1953): Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, op. 19 (1916-17) [23′] featuring violinist Stuart Canin, or Scythian Suite (1915) [20′] *;
Yoritsune Matsudaira (Japan, b. 1907; d. 2001): Figures sonores for orchestra (1956) [18′] [WORLD PREMIERE];
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (West Germany, b. 1905; d. 1963): Symphony No. 6 (1951-53) [27′].
Sunday, 2 June 1957 – chamber music concert
+ Anton Webern (Austria, 1883-1945): Drei Volkstexte, op. 17, for voice, violin, clarinet, and bass clarinet (1924-25) [3′]; performed by Eva Maria Rogner (soprano), Eduard Melkus (violin)?, Hans Rudolf Stalder (clarinet), Karl Fanghänel (bass clarinet);
Aldo Clementi (Italy, b. 1925; d. 2011): Sonata for Trumpet, Guitar and Piano (1955) performed by Umberto Induni (tp), Hermann Leeb (gt), and an as of yet unidentifed pianist;
Mátyás Seiber (United Kingdom [England], b. 1905 in Hungary; d. 1960): Concert Piece for Violin and Piano (1954) [8′] performed by Eli Goren and Peter Wallfisch;
Billy Jim Layton (United States, b. 1924; d. 2004): String Quartet in 2 Movements (1955-56) [15′] performed by the Feld Quartet **;
Bo Nilsson (Sweden, b. 1937; d. 2018): Frequenzen (Frequencies) for piccolo, flute, guitar, doublebass, xylophone, vibraphone, and percussion (1956) [4′];
+ Béla Bartók (Hungary, 1881-1945 [in the United States]): Contrasts for violin, clarinet, and piano (1938) [18′].
Monday, 3 June 1957 – orchestral concert conducted by Ernest Bour
Vittorio Fellegara (Italy, b. 1927; d. 2011): Concerto Breve for chamber orchestra (1956) [14′];
Wladimir Vogel (Switzerland, b. 1896 in Russia; d. 1984): Eine Gotthard-Kantate [Hölderlin] for baritone and strings (1956) [14′] sung by Heinz Rehfuss [WORLD PREMIERE];
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (Israel, b. 1919 in Poland; d. 1994 in Austria): Recitativo ed Aria for harpsichord and orchestra (1954) [10′] featuring Frank Pelleg;
Maurice Jarre (France, b. 1924; d. 2009): Passacaille for chamber orchestra (in memoriam Arthur Honegger) (1957) [13′];
Hans Werner Henze (West Germany, b. 1926; d. 2012): Fünf neapolitanische Lieder (auf anonyme Texte des 17. Jh.) for baritone and chamber orchestra (1956) [17′];
+ Paul Hindemith (West Germany, b. 1895; d. 1963): Kammermusik No. 1, op. 24 No. 1 (1922) [16′].
Tuesday, 4 June 1957 – orchestral concert
Robert Oboussier (Switzerland, b. 1900 in Belgium; murdered five days later on 9 June 1957): 3 Psalms for soprano, tenor, chorus and orchestra (Nos. 130, 121, 126) (1946-47) [35′];
Leon Kirchner (United States, b. 1919; d. 2009): Piano Concerto (No. 1) (1953) [32′] featuring the composer at the piano;
Karl Heinz Füssl (Austria, b. 1924; d. 1992): Epitaph (Variations for Orchestra, Anton Webern zum Gedächtnis) (1956) [8′] [WORLD PREMIERE];
Gustavo Becerra Schmidt (Chile, b. 1925; d. 2010): Symphony No. 1 (1955) [15′] [WORLD PREMIERE];
+ Igor Stravinsky (Russia/France/United States, b. 1882; d. 1971): Feu d’artifice, orchestral fantasy, op. 4 (1908) [4′]. ***
Wednesday, 5 June 1957 – Concert of Swiss Music
Frank Martin (Switzerland, b. 1890; d. 1974): Études for string orchestra (1955-56) [20′];
Constantin Regamey (Switzerland, b. 1907 in Ukraine; d. 1982): 5 Études for female voice and orchestra (1955-56);
Willy Burkhard (Switzerland, 1900-1955): Violin Concerto No. 2, op. 69 (1943) [21′] performed by Hansheinz Schneeberger;
Jacques Wildberger (Switzerland, b. 1922; d. 2006): Tre mutazioni for chamber orchestra (1953) [14′];
Franz Tischhauser (Switzerland, b. 1921; d. 2016): Amores [Catullus] for tenor, trumpet, strings, and percussion (1955/56) [26′] featuring Herbert Handt (tenor) and Louis Duquénoy (trumpet).
Thursday, 6 June 1957 – opera performance at the Stadttheater (now the Opernhaus Zürich)
Arnold Schönberg (Austria, 1874-1951 [in the United States]): Moses und Aron, opera in two acts (1930-32, incomplete) [106′], featuring Hans Herbert Fiedler (Moses) and Helmut Melchert (Aron), conducted by Hans Rosbaud [STAGED WORLD PREMIERE].
During the Festival, there was also a public discussion: «IGNM – Vergangenheit oder Zukunft?» (ISCM: Past or Future?) led by Hans Curjel.
Other significant interpreters
Singers: Margheritas Perras, Annemarie Jung.
Violinists: Stuart Canin, Heribert Lauer, Hansheinz Schneeberger.
Pianists: Alfred Baum, Theo Sack.
Chorus: Zürcher Kammerchor.
Orchestra: Studio-Orchester Beromünster.
Conductors: Erich Schmid, Francis Travis, Nikiaus Aeschbacher, Johannes Fuchs.
Notes
* Although Slonimsky instead lists that there was a performance of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite (1915) [20′] on the 1 June concert, Haefeli lists that the Prokofiev work performed was the Violin Concerto No. 1. An unattributed article about the violinist Stuart Canin that ran on page 3 of the November 15, 1957 Iowa City Press Citizen (“Canin to be Soloist at S.U.I. Concert”) states that Canin “performed with the Tonhalle Orchestra at the opening concert of the International Society for Contemporary Music’s World Music Festival in Zurich, Switzerland.” While the first concert of the 1957 festival was a fixed-media electronic music concert, the first concert performed by human musicians would have been the 1 June orchestra concert and as the none of the works by the other composers on that program would have utilized a violin soloist, the Iowa article corroborates that the Prokofiev work performed was a violin concerto.
** Haefeli lists the performance of Layton’s string quartet occurring during the chamber music program on June 2 which makes more sense than Slonimsky’s inclusion of it on the 4 June orchestra concert.
*** Slonimsky does not include Stravinsky’s Feu d’artifice on the 4 June program, but Haefeli does. Perhaps it was an encore.
Sources
Anton Haefeli, Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM), Ihre Geschichte von 1922 bis zur Gegenwart (Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1982), pp. 513-514 [in German].
Everett Helm, “‘Moses and Aaron’ Tells Old Story in Modern Music,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 7, 1957, p. 39.
Hans Keller, “Music in Zurich: Schoenberg Opera Premiere,” The Daily Telegraph [London, U.K.], 8 June 1957, p. 9.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 503-504.
(annotated by Frank J. Oteri, in progress)
