1956 Stockholm

Jury

Conrad Beck
Sten Broman
Henri Dutilleux
Roman Palester
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt

Concerts

Sunday, 3 June 1956 opening concert featuring the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
+ Arthur Honegger (France/Switzerland, 1892-1955): Concerto da camera for flute, English horn and string orchestra (1948) [17′] [in memoriam];
Rudolf Kelterborn (Switzerland, b. 1931; d. 2021): Suite for Brass, Percussion, and Strings (1954) [25′];
Dušan Radić (Yugoslavia [Serbia], b. 1929; d. 2010): Spisak, 13 Sketches for 13 Instrumentalists (1954) [12′];
Sven-Erik Bäck (Sweden, b. 1919; d. 1994): Sinfonia da camera (1955) [13′];
Ahti Sonninen (Finland, b. 1914; d. 1984): El amor pasa … for soprano, flute and chamber orchestra, op. 40 (1953) [12′] sung by Liisa Linko;
Niels Viggo Bentzon (Denmark, b. 1919; d. 2000): Triple Concerto for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and orchestra, op. 94 (1953) [22′] featuring Mogens Sten-Andresson (oboe); Tage Scharff (clarinet); Aage Bredal (bassoon).

Monday, 4 June 1956
Henri Martelli (France, b. 1895 [in Corsica]; d. 1980): String Quartet No.2, op. 59 (1944);
Karlheinz Stockhausen (West Germany, b. 1928; d. 2007): Kontra-Punkte, Nr. 1 for 10 instruments (1953) [14′] conducted by the composer;
Anton Heiller (Austria, b. 1923; d. 1979): Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig, motet for 8-part unaccompanied chorus (1949) [12′];
Finn Mortensen (Norway, b. 1922; d. 1983): Wind Quintet, op. 4 (1951) [14′];
Leifur Thórarinsson (Iceland, b. 1934; d. 1998): Sonata for Violin and Piano (1956);
Hilding Rosenberg (Sweden, b. 1892; d. 1985): String Quartet No. 6 (1953) [21′].

Tuesday, 5 June 1956 – Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sixten Ehrling
Barry Moss (New Zealand, b. 1930): Variations for Orchestra, op. 2 [20′];
Toshiro Mayuzumi (Japan, b. 1929; d. 1997): Ektoplasm for electronic instruments, percussion, and strings (1954);
Roger Sessions (United States, b. 1896; d. 1985): Idyll of Theocritus for soprano and orchestra (1954) [38′] sung by Martha Long;
Mario Peragallo (Italy, b. 1910; d. 1996): Violin Concerto (1953) [32′] performed by Sandro Materassi;
Guillaume Landré (Netherlands, b. 1905; d. 1968): Symphony No. 4 (1954-55) [28′] [world premiere].

Thursday, 7 June 1956 – Concert of Swedish Music with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir
Ingvar Lidholm (Sweden, b. 1921; d. 2017): Ritornell for orchestra (1954-55) [19′];
Hilding Hallnäs (Sweden, b. 1903; d. 1984): Kantate for soprano, flute, clarinet, violoncello, and piano (1955) [14′];
Lars-Erik Larsson (Sweden, b. 1908; d. 1986): Missa brevis for three-part choir, op. 43 (1954) [10′];
Gösta Nystroem (Sweden, b. 1890; d. 1966): Symphony No. 2 ‘Sinfonia espressiva’ (1932-37) [29′].

Friday, 8 June 1956
Barbara Pentland (Canada, b. 1912; d. 2000): String Quartet No. 2 (1953) [27′];
Joaquim Homs i Oller (Spain [Catalonia], b. 1906; d. 2003): Trio for flute, oboe and bass clarinet (1953) [11′];
Luigi Cortese (Italy, b. 1899; d. 1976): Psalm 8 for soprano, flute, violoncello and piano, op. 21 (1943) [12′];
Giselher Klebe (West Germany, b. 1925; d. 2009): Elegia appassionata for piano trio, op. 22 (1955);
Alan Rawsthorne (United Kingdom [England], b. 1905; d. 1971): String Quartet No. 2 (1954) [15′].

Sunday, 10 June 1956 – Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hanns Jelinek (Austria, b. 1901; d. 1969): Symphony No. 6 ‘Sinfonia concertante’, op. 22 (1953);
Benjamin Frankel (United Kingdom [England], b. 1906; d. 1973): Violin Concerto ‘To the memory of the six million’, Op. 24 (1951) [27′] performed by Max Rostal;
Marcelle de Manziarly (France, b. 1899 in Ukraine; d. 1989 in the United States): Musique pour orchestre for small orchestra (1950);
Alexei Haieff (United States, b. 1914 in Russia; d. 1994): Piano Concerto (1952) [22′] performed by Leo Smit;
Alberto Ginastera (Argentina, b. 1916; d. 1983): Pampeana No. 3, op. 24 (1954) [17′].

Other significant interpreters
Singers: Sofija Janković, Biserka Cvejić, Elisabeth Söderström, Kjerstin Dellert
Violinists: Leo Berlin, Erich Röhn
Cellists: Gustav Gröndahl, Arthur Troester.
Pianists: Karl Ulrich Wolf, Hans Alexander Kaul, Greta Erikson
Wind players: Carl Achatz, Nils Wahrby, Bengt Överström (flute); Torleif Lännerholm (oboe); Sven Nyberg (clarinet)
Ensembles: Parrenin Quartet, Members of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Wind Quintet, Kyndelkvartetten, Grünfarbkvartetten.
Conductors: Eric Ericson, Herbert Blomstedt.

Sources

Anton Haefeli, Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM), Ihre Geschichte von 1922 bis zur Gegenwart (Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1982), pp. 512-513 [in German].

Andrea Olmstead, Roger Sessions: A Biography (New York: Routledge, 2008), p. 310.

Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 494-495.

(annotated by Frank J. Oteri, in progress)