Jury
Max Butting
Jacques Ibert
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Paul A. Pisk
Erwin Schulhoff
Concerts
Monday, 1 September 1930 – band music concert performed by the First Regiment of Les Guides under the direction of Arthur Prévost
Raymond Moulaert (Belgium, b. 1875; d. 1962): Fanfares pour une Corrida (1930) [world premiere?];
Ernst Toch (Austria, b. 1887; d. 1964): Spiel, op. 39 (1926) [9′];
Paul Hindemith (Germany, b. 1895; d. 1963): Konzertmusik, op. 41 (1926) [15′];
Joseph Jongen (Belgium [Wallonia], b. 1873; d. 1953): Pièce symphonique for piano and wind band (1928) [24′] performed by Gui Mombaerts;
Florent Schmitt (France, b. 1870; d. 1958): Dionysiaques op. 62 (1913) [11′];
Igor Stravinsky (France, b. 1882 in Russia; d. 1971 in the United States): Symphonies of Wind Instruments in memory of Claude Debussy (1920) [9′];
Jules Strens (Belgium [Wallonia], b. 1893; d. 1971): Danse funambulesque (1925, arranged for wind band in 1929) [12′];
Maurice Schoemaeker (Belgium [Flanders], b. 1890; d. 1964): Feuerwerk (1922) [8′].
Tuesday, 2 September 1930
Erhard Michel (Czechoslovakia, b. 1899; d. 1967): Music for Piano [in one movement] (1928) performed by the composer;
Karel Hába (Czechoslovakia, b. 1898; d. 1972): Septet for violin, clarinet, viola, horn, violoncello, bassoon and piano, op. 16 (1928-29) [20′] performed by members of the Zika Quartet and the Pražské dechové kvinteto (Prague Wind Quintet);
Germaine Tailleferre (France, b. 1892; d. 1983): Five of the Six chansons françaises (1929) sung by Suzanne Peignot accompanied by the composer (the program stated that only three would be performed);
Arnold Bax (United Kingdom [England], b. 1883; d. 1953), Sonata for two pianos (1929) [22′] performed by Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson;
Albert Huybrechts (Belgium [Wallonia], 1899; d. 1938): String Quartet No. 2 (1927) [19′] performed by the Pro Arte Quartet.
Wednesday, 3 September 1930 at 11:00am
Karel Jirák (Czechoslovakia, b. 1891; d. 1972 in the United States): Wind Quintet, op. 34 (1928) performed by the Prague Wind Quintet (Rudolf Hertl, flute; Václav Smetáček, oboe; Vladimir Říha, clarinet; Otakar Procházka, horn; Karel Bidlo, bassoon);
Fernand Quinet (Belgium [Wallonia], b. 1898; d. 1971): Moralités non légendaires, for soprano and small ensemble (1926) [12′] sung by Mady Beaumont;
Albert Roussel (France, b. 1869; d. 1937): Trio for flute, viola, and violoncello, op. 40 (1929) [14′] performed by René Le Roy, Germain Prévost, and Robert Maas;
Karl Stimmer (Austria, b. 1900; d. 1943 in Auschwitz): Quintet for saxophone and string quartet, op. 9 performed by J.-C. van Moer and the Pro Arte Quartet;
Alfredo Casella (Italy, b. 1883; d. 1947): Serenata for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin, and violoncello, op. 46 (1927) [25′] performed by members of Concerts Pro Arte and the Pro Arte Quartet conducted by the composer.
Thursday, 4 September 1930 – Orchestre de Liège conducted by Hermann Scherchen or Wladimir Golschmann unless otherwise noted
Volkmar Andreae (Switzerland, b. 1879; d. 1962): Music for Orchestra, op. 35 (1921) [11′] conducted by the composer;
Bernard Wagenaar (United States, b. 1894 in the Netherlands; d. 1971): Sinfonietta (1927) [25′] conducted by the composer;
William Walton (United Kingdom [England], b. 1902; d. 1983): Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1929) [27′] performed by Lionel Tertis under the direction of the composer;
Antonio Veretti (Italy, b. 1900; d. 1978): Sinfonia Italiana [in one movement] (1929);
Florent Schmitt (France): Ronde Burlesque, op. 78 (1927) [6′] conducted by Fernand Quinet;
Marcel Poot (Belgium [Flanders], b. 1901; d. 1988): Poème de l’espace (1929) – inspired by the flight of Charles Lindbergh [world premiere].
Friday, 5 September 1930 – Festival performance conducted by Paul Pella at the Stadttheater Aachen in Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle
Alban Berg (Austria, b. 1885; d. 1935): Wozzeck, opera in three acts (1914-22), reduced orchestration.
Saturday, 6 September 1930 – Orchestre de Liège conducted by Hermann Scherchen or Wladimir Golschmann unless otherwise noted
Ernst Pepping (Germany, b. 1901; d. 1981): Praeludium (1929);
Pavel Bořkovec (Czechoslovakia, b. 1894; d. 1972): Start (Allegro Symphonique) (1929) [7′];
Jean Rivier (France, 1896; d. 1987): Chant funèbre (1928) [7′];
? Henry Gibson (Ireland?): Temptation (Gaelic Pipe March) conducted by the composer;
Josef Matthias Hauer (Austria, b. 1883; d. 1959): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, op. 54 (1928) [17′] performed by Hugo Gottesmann;
Karol Rathaus (Germany, b. 1895 in Austria-Hungary [now Ukraine]; d. 1954 in the United States): Suite, op. 29 (1920) [22′] conducted by Scherchen;
Marcel Mihalovici (France, b. 1898, in Romania; d. 1985): Fantaisie, op. 26 (1927);
Alexander Mosolov (U.S.S.R., b. 1900 in Ukraine; d. 1973 in Russia): Zavod (Iron Foundry), orchestral episode from the ballet Stal (Steel), op. 19 (1926-27).
Additional concerts during that week
Concert of a cappella works at Liège Cathedral
Philippe de Monte: Missa Reviens vers moy for 4 voices;
Motets by Josquin des Prez, Orlande de Lassus, etc.?
Concert by the A Capella Society of Liège
Music by Liège masters: Johannes Ciconia, Arnold de Lantins, Hugo de Lantins, Johannes de Sarto, etc.
Concert by the Schola Cantorum of Brussels
Ludovicus Episcopus: Bacchic Song (?);
Carlo Gesualdo: (unidentified madrigal);
Thomas Tomkins: “Fusca, in thy starry eyes”;
Paul E. Sanders: “La Vielle” [Paul Fort].
?? Karol Szymanowski (Poland, b. 1882; d. 1937): Stabat Mater for soprano, alto, baritone, chorus and Orchestra (1925-26) [28′] in a performance conducted by conducted by Gregor Fitelberg featuring soprano Stanisława Szymanowska-Korwin, the Choir of the Concerts Spirituels of Brussels (cited by Haefeli and Pruniers, but not mentioned in any of the other sources).
Concert of the Pro Arte Quartet at Le Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels
Bohuslav Martinů (France, b. 1890, Czechoslovakia; emigrated to the United States in 1941 and d. 1959 in Switzerland): String Quintet (two violas) H164 (1927) [19′] joined in performance by Lionel Tertis;
Eric Satie (France, 1866-1925): Relâche (1924), first act, arranged for piano [9′] performed by Paul Collaer;
Béla Bartók (Hungary, b. 1881; d. 1945 in the United States): String Quartet No. 4 (1928) [23′];
Darius Milhaud (France, b. 1892; d. 1974): La création du monde (1922-23) [15′], arranged by the composer for piano and string quartet for which the quartet was joined in performance by Paul Collaer.
Sources
Edwin Evans, ‘The Liège Festival,” The Bulletin of The British Music Society, n.s. 1 (October 1930), pp. 3–4.
Edwin Evans, “The Liège Festival,” The Musical Times, Vol. 71, No. 1052 (1 October 1930), pp. 898–902 (available online via JSTOR).
Edwin Evans, “The Liege Festival: A Change of Atmosphere,” The Musical Mirror and Fanfare, Vol. 10, no. 10 (October 1930), pp. 277 and 308.
Guido M. Gatti, “Lettera Da Liegi,” La Rassegna Musicale, Vol. 3, no. 5 (September 1930), pp. 419–23 [in Italian].
L. Dunton Green, “The International Music Festival in Liège,” The Chesterian, Vol. 12, no. 89 (September–October 1930), pp. 18–22.
Anton Haefeli, Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM), Ihre Geschichte von 1922 bis zur Gegenwart (Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1982), pp. 487–488 [in German].
H.E.W., “A Modern Music Festival: Works of Eleven Nations,” The Daily Telegraph, 1 September 1930, p. 6.
Frederick Jacobi, “Liège, 1930,” Modern Music, Vol. VIII No. 1 (November-December 1930), pp. 10–20.
Giles Masters, New-music internationalism: the ISCM festival, 1922–1939 (King’s College London: Ph.D. Dissertation, 2021) Available online: kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/156634738/2021_Masters_Giles_1101346_ethesis.pdf.
Henry Prunieres, “Music at Liege; Eighth Festival of International Society for Contemporary Music,” New York Times, 28 September 1930, Section X, p. 8 (available online).
Henry Prunières, “S.I.M.C.: Le VIIIe Festival de la Société Internationale de Musique Contemporaine à Liége,” La Revue
Musicale Vol. 11, no. 108 (October 1930), pp. 257–62 [in French].
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 252–253.
(Unattributed) “Music Abroad: Modern Works Produced,” The Argus [Melbourne], 25 October 1930, p. 7.
(annotated by Frank J. Oteri)
