1957 Zurich

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
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′] 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
+ 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 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): Kammermusik No. 1, op. 24 No. 1 (1922) [16′].

Tuesday, 4 June 1957
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): 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: Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Studio-Orchester Beromünster.
Conductors: Erich Schmid, Francis Travis, Nikiaus Aeschbacher, Johannes Fuchs.

Notes

* While Haefeli lists that there was a performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 during the 1 June concert, Slonimsky instead lists Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite.

** 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].

Nicolas Slonimsky, Music Since 1900, Sixth Edition edited by Laura Kuhn (Schirmer Reference, 2001), pp. 503-504.

(annotated by Frank J. Oteri, in progress)