1973 Reykjavik

Jun 18, 1973 – Jun 24, 1973
Reykjavik

Festival info

Start: Jun 18, 1973

End: Jun 24, 1973

Locations: Reykjavik

Hosting member(s)

Description
Description

ISCM Music Days

From a Contemporaneous Review of the 1973 ISCM Music Days Festival:

“In retrospect, the 1973 ISCM Music Days in Reykjavik emerge as a festival of high international standards. The problems faced by the organizers in a country with a total population of 200,000 were colossal. The refusal of financial support by the Nordic Cultural Fund was a crippling blow, and seemingly spelled the end for the entire venture. However the help provided by the ISCM Praesidium, the Canadian, Dutch, German, Japanese, Norwegian and Swedish Sections, made possible a festival that proved varied and absorbing throughout. The small Icelandic committee of three, Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Pall P. Palsson and Thorkell Sigurbjornsson resolutely carried out the entire project with amazing elan.

“Nineteen Sections with 27 delegates, as well as the entire Executive Committee, were in attendance. In addition some hundred other guests (observers, performers and composers) strained the accomodation facilities of Reykjavik; but somehow all was sorted out … Audience attendance at all events was consistently good. … With only one Haydn size orchestra in Iceland, the programming was of necessity restricted to chamber music, with the exception of the single orchestral concert. Without commenting on the individual compositions, I feel that the quality and styles of the works presented were up to the standards of previous ISCM Music Days.

“As in all such festivals, high standards of performance were consistent, but some performers were truly outstanding. The Dutch Gaudeamus Quartet and the Canadian Lyric Arts Trio were memorable. Perhaps the real star was Robert Aitken, the Canadian virtuoso flautist who appeared in no less than fourteen works.”

— Samuel Dolin (from “1973 Reykjavik Music Days / Journées Musicales 1973 à Reykjavik / IGNM-Musiktage 1973 in Reykjavik,” in The World of Music, Vol. 15, No. 4, 1973, pp. 41-42).

Programme information
Locations