1933 Amsterdam
Jun 9, 1933 – Jun 15, 1933
Amsterdam
Festival info
Start: Jun 9, 1933
End: Jun 15, 1933
Locations: Amsterdam
Hosting member(s)
From a contemporaneous review
“The adoption of English, side by side with Dutch, as the official language of the Festival, was the wisest choice that could have been made. German is not very popular just now, and the use of French, the usual alternative, might conceivably have been regarded as a kind of ‘counter-demonstration,’ not in keeping with the spirit of fellowship that we all seek to maintain on these occasions. But privately, of course, we used whatever language happened to be convenient.”
— Edwin Evans, “The I.S.C.M. Festival at Amsterdam,” The Musical Times, Vol. 74, No. 1086 (August 1933), p. 705.
Jury
Max Butting
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Willem Pijper
Roger Sessions
Václav Talich
Concerts
Friday, 9 June 1933 outdoor afternoon performance by 4 combined choirs under the direction of Sem Dresden
Alfons Diepenbrock (Netherlands, 1862-1921): Carmen Saeculare [Horace] for unaccompanied chorus (1901) [12′]
Friday, 9 June 1933 evening orchestral concert by the Concertgebouworkest at the Concertgebouw
Leo Justinius Kauffmann (Germany [Alsace], b. 1901; killed in an air raid in 1944): Orchestra Suite (?) conducted by the composer;
Józef Koffler (Poland, b. 1896; murdered in 1944): 15 Variations on a 12-tone Row for string orchestra, op. 9a (1927) [10′] conducted by Ignaz Neumark;
Pál Kadosa (Hungary, b. 1903 in Léva [now in Slovakia]; d. 1983): Concert Music for Piano and Orchestra, op. 15 featuring the composer as piano soloist and conducted by Eduard van Beinum [world premiere];
Guillaume Landré (Netherlands, b. 1905; d. 1968): Symphony No. 1 (1932) conducted by van Beinum *;
František Bartoš (Czechoslovakia, b. 1905; d. 1973): Suite for Orchestra, op. 6 (1928) conducted by Karel Ančerl;
(* NOTE: The Landré composition is erroneously listed by Haefeli and Slonimsky as Symphony No. 2, a work which did not yet exist; the contemporaneous review by Evans correctly lists it as Symphony No. 1).
Saturday, 10 June 1933 evening choral/orchestral concert at the Concertgebouw
Robert(o) Gerhard (Spain [Catalonia], b. 1896; d. 1970 in England): Passacaglia and Choral from the Cantata L’alta Naixença del Rei en Jaume for Chorus and Orchestra (1932) [8′ of 18′] conducted by the composer;
Jean Cartan (France, 1906-1932), Pater noster, Cantata for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra (1928-29) featuring vocal soloists Malnory Marseillac (soprano), Alice Raveau (contralto), and Frédéric Anspach (tenor) [in memoriam];
William Walton (United Kingdom [England], b. 1902; d. 1983), Belshazzar’s Feast for Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra (1931) [34′] performed by Roy Henderson with an unidentified Rotterdam-based chorus under the direction of Constant Lambert.
* Sunday, 11 June 1933 evening concert of Dutch a cappella music featuring the Haarlem Motet and Madrigal Society conducted by Sem Dresden in the Bachzall of the Amsterdam Conservatorium
Jacob Obrecht (Netherlands, 1457?-1505): Passio secundum Matthaeum for 4-part chorus (first published in 1638) [19′];
Orlande de Lassus (Netherlands, 1530/32?-1594): unidentified work;
Jan Tollins (late 16th century): unidentified work;
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (Netherlands, 1562-1621): unidentified work;
Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer (Netherlands, b. 1888; d. 1953): Canticum Fratis Solis [St. Francis], op. 33 for unaccompanied mixed chorus (1932);
Jan Mul (Netherlands, b. 1911; d. 1971): Missa Causa nostrae laetitiae for two-part female chorus with obbligato flute (1931) featuring flutist M. Willeke;
Willem Pijper (Netherlands, b. 1894; d. 1947): Heer Halewijn for eight voices unaccompanied (1920) [4′].
Tuesday, 13 June 1933
Bertus van Lier (Netherlands, b. 1906; d. 1972): Symphony No. 2 (1931) [16′];
Edmund von Borck (Germany, b. 1906; d. 1944 in Italy in battle): Five Orchestra Pieces, op. 8 (1933) conducted by the composer;
Marcelle de Manziarly (France, b. 1899 in Ukraine [then Russia]; d. 1989 in the United States): Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1932) featuring the composer as piano soloist and conducted by Alfredo Casella;
Goffredo Petrassi (Italy, b. 1904; d. 2003): Partita for Orchestra (1932) conducted by Casella;
Erik Chisholm (United Kingdom [Scotland], b. 1904; d. 1965 in South Africa): Dance Suite (Three Movements) for Piano and Orchestra (1932) featuring the composer as piano soloist and conducted by Lambert.
* Wednesday, 14 June 1933 at 20:00 – opera performance at the Wagnervereeniging *
Willem Pijper: Halewijn, symphonic drama in nine scenes (1933) [91′] featuring Sydney de Vries (baritone, as Halewijn), Liesbet Sanders-Herzberg (as the King’s Daughter) with the Utrecht Stedelijk Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux [world premiere].
(* Slonimsky erroneously states this performance took place on Tuesday, 13 June 1933; the contemporaneous review by Evans lists implies it was on 14 June which is the date listed on an online photo of the premiere program.)
Thursday, 15 June 1933 final official concert of the festival
Aaron Copland (United States, b. 1900; d. 1990): Piano Variations (1930) [12′] performed by Victor Babin;
Juan-Carlos Paz (Argentina, b. 1897; d. 1972): Sonatina for Flute and Clarinet (1932) performed by Jan Poolman and Anton Wit;
Iša Krejčí (Czechoslovakia, b. 1904; d. 1968): Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano (1929-30) performed by Vaclav Ritra and Václav Holzknecht;
Ernst Krenek (Austria, b. 1900; d. 1991 in the United States): Gesänge des späten Jahres, op. 71 (1931) [40′] sung by Ruzena Herlinger accompanied at the piano by Paul A. Pisk;
Ruth Crawford Seeger (United States, b. 1901; d. 1953): Three Songs on Texts by Carl Sandburg for medium voice, oboe, percussion, and piano (“Rat Riddles,” “In Tall Grass,” and “Prayers of Steel”) (1930-32) [world premiere of third song];
Ljubica Marić (Yugoslavia [Serbia], b. 1909; d. 2003): Wind Quintet (1931) [9′] performed by the Bläserens. aus Den Haag und Amsterdam.
Additional Choral concert conducted by Willem Mengelberg at the Concertgebouw
Igor Stravinsky (France, b. 1882 in Russia; d. 1971 in the United States): Symphony of Psalms (1930) [22′];
Rudolf Mengelberg (Netherlands, b. 1892; d. 1959 in Monaco): Missa pro Pace for soprano, baritone, chorus, orchestra, and organ (1932) [33′].
Sources
Edwin Evans, “The I.S.C.M. Festival at Amsterdam,” The Musical Times, Vol. 74, No. 1086 (August 1933), pp. 705-708.
Anton Haefeli, Die Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM), Ihre Geschichte von 1922 bis zur Gegenwart (Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1982), pp. 490-491. [in German]
Frederick Jacobi, “Festival impressions — Amsterdam, 1933,” Modern Music, Vol. 11 #1 (Nov-Dec 1933), pp. 30-33.
Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 279-280.
(annotated by Frank J. Oteri)