1928 Siena
Sep 10, 1928 – Sep 15, 1928
Siena
Festival info
Start: Sep 10, 1928
End: Sep 15, 1928
Locations: Siena
Hosting member(s)
From a contemporaneous review
“Siena has treated us royally. In many ways it is the most delightful of the places yet chosen for the annual Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music, and every one enjoyed the week with its hospitality, its sight-seeing, and its occasional public outbursts of uncontrolled dislike.”
— Hubert J. Foss, “The Siena Festival of Modern Music,”
The Musical Times, Vol. 69, No. 1028 (Oct. 1, 1928), p. 936.
Jury
Volkmar Andreae
Alban Berg
Alfredo Casella
Philipp Jarnach
Karel Boleslav Jirák
Concerts
Monday, 10 September 1928
opening concert presented under the auspices of the Corporazione delle Nuove Musiche, the ISCM Italian Section:
a program of old Italian music performed by the Orchestra dell’Augusteo under the direction of Bernardino Molinari
Tuesday, 11 September 1928
Vincenzo Tommasini (Italy, b. 1878; d. 1950): String Quartet No.2 in b minor (1927);
Karel Hába (Czechoslovakia, b. 1898; d. 1972): Sonatina for Flute and Piano (1927) with the composer at the piano;
Paul Hindemith (Germany, b. 1895; later emigrated to the U.S.A. but then returned to Germany, d. 1963): Klaviermusik, op. 37 (1924-26) [35′];
Maurice Ravel (France, b. 1875; d. 1937): Sonata for Violin and Piano (No. 2) in G Major (1923-27) [17′] performed by Rudolf Kolisch and Josefa Rosanska;
Alexander Zemlinsky (Austria, b. 1871; d. 1942 in the United States): String Quartet No. 3, op. 19 (1924) [24′].
Wednesday, 12 September 1928 Matinée Cecoslovacca at the Chigi-Saracini Palace
Emil František Burian (Czechoslovakia, b. 1904; d. 1959) presents his Voice Band;
Quartertone compositions by Alois Hába (Czechoslovakia, b. 1893; d. 1973):
(? Fantasie No. 6 for quartertone piano, op. 27 (1926) [8′] performed by Erwin Schulhoff [world premiere];)
Fantasie No. 8 for quartertone piano, op. 29 (1927) [9′] performed by Schulhoff [world premiere];
Fantasie for viola and quartertone piano, op. 32 (1926) [13′] performed by Karel Hába and Schulhoff;
Piano Suite No. 5 for quartertone piano, op. 23 (1925) [11′] performed by Schulhoff.
Thursday, 13 September 1928
Frank Bridge (United Kingdom [England], b. 1879; d. 1941): String Quartet No. 3 (1925-27) [30′] performed by the Brosa Quartet (Antonio Brosa and Hyam Greenbaum, violins; Leonard Rubens, viola; and Anthony Pini, cello);
+ Heinz Tiessen (Germany, b. 1887; d. 1971): Duo-Sonata for Violin and Piano, op. 35 (1925);
Anton Webern (Austria, b. 1883; d. 1945): String Trio, op. 20 (1926-27) [10′];
Manuel de Falla (Spain, b. 1876; d. 1946 in Argentina): Concerto for Harpsichord and Five Instruments (1923-26) [15′] in a performance featuring the composer as soloist;
Robert Blum (Switzerland, b. 1900; d. 1994): Music for Eight Instruments for flute, oboe, bassoon, trumpet in C, violin, viola, violoncello, and double-bass (1924) [15′] [world premiere].
Friday, 14 September 1928 – concert presented by the ISCM Italian Section
Alfredo Casella (Italy, b. 1883; d. 1947): Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in c minor, op. 8 (1906-07) [25′];
William Walton (United Kingdom [England], b. 1902; d. 1983): Façade [text by Edith Sitwell] (1922-23);
Igor Stravinsky (France, b. 1882 in Russia; d. 1971 in the U.S.A.): Les Noces (1914-22) [25′] conducted by Casella.
Saturday, 15 September 1928
Bohuslav Martinů (France, b. 1890 in Czechoslovakia; in U.S.A. from 1941-1953, d. 1959 in Switzerland): String Quartet No. 2 (1925) [20′];
Franco Alfano (Italy, b. 1875; d. 1954): Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (1925-26) [32′] performed by Antonio Tusa;
Ernest Bloch (United States, b. 1880 in Switzerland; d. 1959): Piano Quintet (No. 1) (1923) [32′] performed by the Brosa Quartet.
The following work was also scheduled but was not performed
Serge Prokofiev (b. 1891, Russia [now Ukraine], then living in Germany; d. 1953): Quintet in g minor for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and contrabass, op. 39 (1924) [22′])
Other significant interpreters
Violinists: Stefan Frenkel
Pianists: Franz Osborn, Franz Mannheimer.
Ensembles: Kolisch-Quartett, Quartetto Veneziano.
Sources
Alfredo Casella: Sienna’s festival, Modern Music, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Nov-Dec 1928), pp.35-38.
Hermann Ensslin, “V. Musikfest der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Neue Musik in Frankfurt a. M. ,” Neue Musik-Zeitung, Vol. 21 (1927), pp. 470-473. [in German]
Hubert J. Foss, “The Siena Festival of Modern Music,” The Musical Times, Vol. 69, No. 1028 (Oct. 1, 1928), pp. 936-937.
Anton Haefeli, Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM), Ihre Geschichte von 1922 bis zur Gegenwart (Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1982), p. 486. [in German]
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 234-235.
Lubomír Spurný and Jiří Vysloužil: Alois Hába – A Catalogue of the Music and Writings (Prague: Koniasch Latin Press, 2010), pp. 78-79, 149-150, 152, 155-156.
Unattributed, “Annual Festival of Society During Sept.,” The Evening News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 5 June 1928, p. 8.
(annotated by Frank J. Oteri)