From contemporaneous reviews of the festival
“Som Helhed syntes den musikalske Standard ved denne Musikfest at være sunket adskillige Grader i Forhold til sidste Aars Musikfest i København. Uden at lægge nogen bestemt Instans til Last, maa. det dog her betones, at de forskellige Landes Sektioner har et stort Ansvar ved den aarlige Udvælgelse af det respektive Lands Værker, saaledes, at det bedste gaar til »2den Behandling«, nemlig til den internationale sammensatte Jury, der, et halvt Aars Tid inden Aarets Musikfest, træder sammen for at foretage den endelige Sigtning af det Store Materiale.
“Man maa endvidere betænke, at den Gang »Det internationale Selskab for ny Musik« stiftedes (1923), var det saa at sige det eneste Forum af Format for samtidig Musik, medens nu.saavel Radiofonier, Koncertforeninger samt private Institutioner hver gør sit for at udbrede Kendskabet til moderne Musik. Musiklivets Decentralisering truer med at undergrave Forudsætningerne for disse Musikfesters musikalske Berettigelse, hvis ikke det bedste præsenteres her.
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“Kun ved at anslaa Tonen i det internationale Musikliv kan I.S.C.M. bevare sin fremskudte Position, som den, gennem sin aarelange, idealistiske Stræben, er selvskreven til at indtage.”
(“As a whole, the musical standard of this music festival seemed to have dropped several degrees compared to last year’s music festival in Copenhagen. Without blaming anything in particular, however, it is emphasized here that the sections of the various countries have a great responsibility in the annual selection of the works of the respective country, so that the best goes to ‘the 2nd treatment,’ namely to the international composite jury, which, half a year before The Music Festival of the Year, comes together to make the final screening of the Great Material.
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“It must also be borne in mind that when the “International Society for New Music” was founded (1923), it was, so to speak, the only Forum of Format for Contemporary Music, to spread the knowledge of modern music. The Decentralization of Music Life threatens to undermine the Prerequisites for the Musical Justification of these Music Festivals, if not the best presented here.
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“Only by setting the tone in the international music scene can ISCM maintain its advanced position, which it, through its years-long, idealistic pursuit, is self-written to occupy.”)
— Niels Viggo Bentson, “I.S.C.M. 22. internationale musikfest i Amsterdam 5.-13. juni 1948,”
DMT Vol. 23 (1948) No. 8, p. 189.
“If the twenty-second festival, held at Amsterdam and Scheveningen in the second week of June, brought forth little in the way of surprises, it at any rate maintained the level of interest of previous festivals, and surpassed many of them in the standard of performance. To have two concerts by the Concertgebouw Orchestra is certainly an advantage for any festival, though of the actual works performed in them only two were of real interest-some original and arresting Symphonic Studies for piano and orchestra by Arthur Malawski, of Poland, and an effective, though slightly over-long Concerto for orchestra by Raymond Chevreuille (Belgium)
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“Public support of all the concerts was large and enthusiastic, and augurs well for the future.”
— Humphrey Searle, “The Amsterdam I. S. C. M. Festival,”
The Musical Times, Vol. 89, No. 1265 (July 1948), p. 220.