Music

From 1912 until 1924 the music competition was decided in one open event. In 1912, the event was won by Richard Barthélemy, who represented Italy and was the piano accompanist for the famous tenor Enrico Caruso. In 1920, the Belgian avant-garde composer Georges Monier may have benefitted from the home advantage, when he took gold for his work based on verses of the Greek poet Pindar. Not surprisingly, the high-calibre jury in 1924 did not award any medal in view of just eight works that were entered by little known composers. Although the number of artists doubled in 1928, just one medal was awarded, a bronze to a symphony by the reputed Danish composer Rudolf Simonsen. For the first time, three events were contested: compositions for solo or chorus, for orchestra, and for instrumental and chamber music. As a special feature in literature and music in 1928, the artists were able to conceal their identity behind a “motto”, and many of the mottos still await the decoding of the respective identities. The Official Report specifically noted the low quality of the works.

In 1932, the same three events were announced, but eventually only one open event was held. Statistically, the number of participants and works (42) approximately doubled compared to 1928, but half of them were mostly unknown Americans, many of them from California. The only medal went to the prominent Czechoslovakian composer Josef Šuk for his march for the Sokol movement. In 1936, for the first time two complete sets of medals were awarded, including a clean sweep for Germany in compositions for solo and chorus. It must be considered that the jury was also dominated by German musicians who were in line with the cultural views of the ruling Nazi party. The jury, however, decided not to award medals for instrumental and chamber music. Two Italian and one Japanese composers achieved the first Honourable Mentions in music.

In 1948, the only gold went to Poland’s Zbigniew Turski for his Olympic Symphony in the event for orchestral music. In the two other events, vocal, and instrumental and chamber music, the artists received only silver and bronze or bronze, respectively. A surge of nine Honourable Mentions may have been a kind of consolation. The actual number of participants was not documented but it seemed to have been slightly higher than in Berlin. Canada’s first medal in music in 1948 may have spurred the participation of several reputed composers from this country in the 1952 exhibition. Canada made up almost a quarter of the 25 entries. The 1936 gold medallist Werner Egk returned in 1952 resuming his career in spite of his controversial role in Nazi Germany.

Of 170 identified composers competing, 16 were females. Only five gold, six silver and six bronze medals were awarded in the 13 events contested. Obviously, the juries considered the quality of the entered works in music considerably lower than in the other arts. The number of Honourable Mentions (12) was higher than in literature thanks to the jury in 1948. Of 26 countries represented, only eight took at least one medal. Only Germany won two golds, both in 1936, but Italy exceeded Germany in the number of total medals (five vs. four). The two countries claimed more than half of the medals awarded. No artist won more than one medal. Internationally known medallists were, for instance, the German Werner Egk and Josef Šuk, the son-in-law of the famous Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. Others became famous in special fields like the Canadian carillonneur Percival Price, Swiss Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, who developed eurythmics, and the German-American composer Johanna Beyer, who introduced percussion as a solo instrument in new music. Only one musician also competed as an athlete: The French Yves Baudrier took part in sailing in 1936.