1936 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival


The 1936 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival was the fourteenth edition of the festival. Held in Barcelona from 19 to 23 April 1936, just three months before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, it was one of the last major cultural events of the Second Spanish Republic. This edition is best remembered for the posthumous world premiere of Alban Berg's Violin Concerto on its inaugural day.

Programme

The compositions were selected in Barcelona from 28 December 1935 to 1 January 1936 by a jury formed by Ernest Ansermet, Edward J. Dent, Joan Lamote de Grignon, Anton Webern and Bolesław Woytowicz. Knudåge Riisager could not attend the meeting.
Date and locationComposersCompositionsPerformers
April 19, 11:15
Palau de les Belles Arts
Wladimir Vogel
Josep Maria Ruera
Ricard Lamote de Grignon
Florent Schmitt
Devise
Three Symphonic Movements
Joan de l'Os
Dyonisiaques
Mercedes Plantada, soprano; Ricardo Fusté, baritone; Conrado Giralt, bass
Orfeó de Sant, Orfeó Montserrat de Gràcia, Schola Cantorum de Sant Miquel Arcàngel
Barcelona Municipal Band – Ricard Lamote de Grignon
April 19, 17:30
Palau de la Música Catalana
Edmund von Borck
Robert Gerhard
Ernst Krenek
Alban Berg
Prelude and Fugue
Ariel
Fragments from Karl V
Violin Concerto
Fragments from Wozzeck
Leonor Meyer, soprano
Louis Krasner, violin
Pau Casals Orchestra – Ernest Ansermet, Hermann Scherchen1
April 20, 22:00
Palau de la Música Catalana
Robert Blum
Ludwig Zenk
Mark Brunswick
Václav Kaprál
Jacques Ibert
Three Psalms
Piano Sonata
Two Movements for Quartet
Lullabies
Concertino da camera
Alice Frey and Jurmila Vavrdová, sopranos
Robert Georg, piano; Sigurd Raschèr, saxophone
Galimir Quartet
Karel Ančerl, Ernest Ansermet and Jacques Ibert, conductors
April 21, 18:00
Casal del Metge
Walter Piston
Egon Wellesz
Benjamin Britten
André Souris
Manuel Blancafort
Béla Bartók
Flute Sonata
Sonnet for soprano and quartet
Suite for violin and piano
Quelques airs de Clarisse de Jurenville
Les ombres perennes
String Quartet No. 5
Concepción Badía and Panny Cleve, sopranos; Marie Lancelot, contraltro
Antonio Brosa, violin; Esteban Gratacós, flute
Benjamin Britten, Winifred Hooke, Alejandro Vilalta, Pere Vallribera, piano
New Hungarian Quartet
April 22, 22:00
Palau de la Música Catalana
Carl Ruggles
Albert Roussel
Frank Martin
Rodolfo Halffter
Marcel Mihalovici
Roman Palester
Sun Treader
Symphony No. 4
Piano Concerto
Don Lindo de Almería
Violin Concerto
Polish Dances
Walter Frey, piano; Stefan Frankel, violin
Madrid Philharmonic – Ernest Ansermet, Bartolomé Pérez Casas and Pedro Sanjuán
April 23, 22:00
Palau de la Música Catalana
Lennox Berkeley
Karl Alfred Deutsch
Karol Szymanowski
Federico Elizalde
Lars-Erik Larsson
Overture
Symphony
Violin Concerto No. 2
Sinfonia Concertante
Concert Overture No. 2
Leopoldo Querol, piano; Stefan Frankel, violin
Madrid SymphonyEnrique Fernández Arbós

1 Anton Webern was scheduled to conduct Berg's Concerto and Krenek's Karl V, but he was replaced respectively by Scherchen and Ansermet, who also conducted the other three compositions.