How My Brain Works 2

Even after I revealed my secret (How My Brain Works), colleagues and friends still seem surprised with some of the discoveries I make in the nooks and crannies of classical music. Thanks to the Internet, it's easy to fall down a rat hole, going from link to link to link. For most people it's just a diversion. For me, it's a voyage of discovery.

Here's how I got from a conversation about basic repertoire to a radio special on Olympic music in five easy steps.

Hans Huber, Swiss composer.

Step One: The conversation
Ken Nail, who used to co-write this blog, and I were discussing classical music. Ken wants to refresh his knowledge of classical music and had found an old Reader's Digest wall chart of the 100 Greatest Compositions (probably from an LP collection). He was going to listen to every work and check it off the list.

As we talked, I pulled out my 1907 edition of "Stories of Symphonic Music" (mentioned in Re-evaluating Raff). The book outlines the stories behind works that were considered basic repertoire in 1907. My point was that the definition of basic repertoire changes over time. The book had an entry for Han Huber's Second Symphony. I'd neither heard of the work, nor the composer.

Step Two: YouTube
Ken went off to listen to some of the compositions on his checklist, and I decided to track down some info about Hans Huber, and his 2nd Symphony. Neither was hard to find. I discovered that Huber was a Swiss composer of some prominence at the turn of the 20th Century, and his Second Symphony (along with several other of his works) was posted on YouTube.




Step Three: The Recommendation
When a YouTube video plays, there's a list of recommended videos that appear in the right rail. One of them was a symphony by Rudolph Simonson. Another composer I never heard of! So I did a quick search. His Wikipedia entry read in full:

Rudolph Hermann Simonsen (April 30, 1889 – March 28, 1947) was a Danish composer who studied under Otto Malling. In 1928, he won a bronze medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his Symphony No. 2: Hellas. From 1931 Simonsen headed Royal Danish Academy of Music.

Step Four: The Connection
Wait - what?! Simonsen's 2nd Symphony won a bronze medal at the Olympics? That lead me to research the Olympic arts competitions. You can read more about that in my post, Olympic Musical Gold - Part 1. So now I had a list of all the Olympic medals awarded for music compositions.

I,  of course,  had listened to Simonsen's 2nd Symphony and thought it was pretty good. But what did the other winning compositions sound like? Was there more Olympic medal-winning music available?

Step Five: Sharing the Results
As it turned out, four of the medal-winning compositions were available via YouTube. It translated out to be about 50 minutes worth of music. And so, while the Olympics were being held in Sochi, I presented a special edition of my radio program "Gamut," on WTJU featuring Olympic competition music (see: A Gamut of Olympic Music). My listeners got to hear the strange story of arts competition at the Olympics and hear the four medal-winning works that had been recorded.

And that's how it happened. Everyone says it's all about the journey. I think it's a little bit more than that. It's about paying attention to what happens on that journey. That's where the adventure lies.

Olympic Musical Gold - Part 3

In Part 1 I outlined the strange history of the arts competitions at the modern Olympic Games. From 1912 through 1948 medals were given for classical music compositions (when merited). So what did these works sound like? Did they encapsulate the Olympic ideal?

In Part 2, I looked at two of the four winners (whose Olympic music I was able to find), from the 1928 and 1932 games. This installment I present medalists from the 1936 and 1948 games -- the final one for the arts competition events.

I have no way of knowing this, but when I survey the winner's list for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, it looks like the fix was in. That year the music composition category was divided into three events; Solo and Chorus, Instrumental, and Orchestral. There were no medals awarded for Instrumental, but the other two categories were a different story.

Germany swept the Solo and Chorus event:  Paul Hoffer "Olympic Vow" (Gold), Kurt Thomas "Olympic Cantata 1936" (Silver), Harald Genzmer "The Runner" (Bronze).

And the Orchestral event looks a little fishy, too. Werner Egk won the Gold for Germany with his "Olympic Festive Music," Lino Liviabelle from Axis ally Italy took Silver for "The Victor," and  Bronze going to Czech composer Jaroslav Kricka for "Mountain Suite." (Czechoslovakia would become part of the Third Reich within two years).

What does Werner Egk's "Olympic Festive Music" sound like. Quite odd, actually. I had expected something martial and imperial.  Instead, Egk turns in a sparse work that seems to owe more to Stravinsky and Weill than Wagner. Werner Egk (1901-1983), despite his modernist tendencies, enjoyed a successful career in Nazi Germany (although he never joined the party). Most of his major works were composed after the war, but this march actually presages what was to come.



John Weinzweig (1913-1986) was a prominent Canadian composer. His "Divertimento No. 1 for Flute and Strings" won Silver at the 1948 Olympic games in London. It was the highest-placing work in the Instrumental and Chamber Music event. Weinzweig wrote prolifically for the CBC, and also scored several Canadian films. The bulk of his compositions were for orchestra, although his output for chamber ensembles is also quite large. This divertimento proved to be the first of a series of eleven that he wrote for a solo instrument with string orchestra accompaniment.

The work itself is quite melodic, with some piquant harmonies. The melody sometimes takes twists and turns that echo Prokofiev, but Weinzweig has an original compositional voice.

(Note: in the recording below, taken from a live broadcast, there are a few dropouts. But it was the best version I could find).


It's a shame that this Olympic event was discontinued, but perhaps it was for the best. Most of the winners are virtually unknown today, and of the medal-winning compositions, I could only find four that were recorded in any form. A curious footnote to the modern Olympics the music competition remains -- and one that still remains largely unheard.

Olympic Musical Gold - Part 2

In Part 1 I outlined the strange history of the arts competitions at the modern Olympic Games. From 1912 through 1948 medals were given for classical music compositions (when merited). So what did these works sound like? Did they encapsulate the Olympic ideal?

At the 1928 games in Antwerp, Danish composer Rudolph Simonsen won a Bronze Medal for his Symphony No. 2, "Hellas" Simonsen (1889-1947) composed four symphonies over the course of his career, each with a program of some kind.

His second symphony, "Hellas" is a three movement work based on the Orestia, a trilogy of ancient Greek tragedies. The Orestria won first prize at the Dionysia festival in Athens, 458, BC, which perhaps made it suitable as an Olympic competition entry.

Simonsen completed the work in 1921, seven years before the event. The21-minute work is in three movements:

1. Orestian (Orestia)
2. Ensomhed ved Templerne (Loneliness at the Temples)
3. Sejersgudinden Pallas Athene (Victory goddess Pallas Athene)

The middle movement is quite beautiful and contemplative, and the final movement is heroic and stately -- well-suited to Olympic pageantry. Simonsen wrote in a similar style to Carl Nielsen (whom he succeeded as head of the Royal Danish Academy of Music) . Simonsen's music is tonal, but not overly conservative. While the symphony may not have any memorable themes, it's a work that holds up well and is worth hearing. Significantly, no Gold or Silver medals were awarded this year. So Simonsen's score was considered the best entry, but not the best possible entry.


By contrast, "Into a New Life" concert march by Joseph Suk is short and sweet, with a memorable fanfare to start the proceedings. Josef Suk (1874-1935)  composed the work in 1920, and submitted it as an entry for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It earned a Silver Medal for Czechoslovakia. Neither Gold nor Bronze was awarded that year, so Suk's work apparently was vastly better than the other entries, if still not quite good enough for gold.

The work is a jaunty little 6-minute symphonic march that's brimming with optimism and energy. Suk was a renowned and respected composer with an impressive body of work. He was Antonin Dvorak's sun-in-law, and was colleagues with Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg. Several of his works are part of the standard repertoire: his Serenade for Strings; the Azreal Symphony in C minor; the Fairy Tale Suite, and several others.

It's not surprising that there was no Bronze awarded. It's unlikely that there were other entries of the same level of craftsmanship as Suk's march. And it also makes sense that it didn't win the Gold. Compared to Suk's best works, "Into a New Life" is good, but not great. Perhaps the judges were aware of what Suk could really do.



Next: Part 3 - 1936 and 1948!

Olympic Musical Gold - Part 1

Some came to play -- others came
to play instruments.

Most classical music lovers aren't aware that Joseph Suk took the Silver Medal at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, or that Polish composer Zbigniew Turski brought home the Gold from the 1948 Olympics in London. Were these musicians extraordinary athletes? Not especially -- the truth is even more remarkable.

When the modern Olympics were established in 1912, the goal was to emulate the ancient Greek games and have both athletic and artistic competition. And so, from 1912 through 1948, there were Olympic competition in the fields of literature, sculpture, painting, and music composition.

After 1948 it was decided that since almost all the competitors for the arts events were professionals, the Olympics would shift to just having an art exhibition celebrating the contributions of the participating nations, and leave the amateur competition to the athletic events.

As is common with composition contests (but exceedingly rare in sports), not every medal was awarded in every event. If the judges thought there was no work worthy of an Olympic gold medal, then none was awarded, and the "best" composition received a silver -- or a bronze.

Below is a complete list of the winners for the Olympic Games Music Competition. So what does a medal-winning Olympic composition sound like? Although most of these composers are obscure, some of the prize-winning works have been recorded. In parts two and three, we'll analyze the four I was able to find.

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Olympic Music Competition Winners 

Stockholm 1912 

• Gold: Riccardo Barthelemy (Ita): Olympic Triumphal March 
• Silver: none awarded 
• Bronze: none awarded 

Antwerp 1920 

• Gold: Georges Monier (Bel): Olympique Silver: 
• Oreste Riva (Ita): Marcia trionfale 
• Bronze: none awarded 

Paris 1924

• None awarded 

Antwerp 1928
   Song category: none awarded

   One instrument category: none awarded

   Orchestral music category

• Gold: none awarded 
• Silver: none awarded 
• Bronze: Rudolph Simonsen (Den): Symphony No. 2 “Hellas” 

Los Angeles 1932 

• Gold: none awarded 
• Silver: Joseph Suk (Tch) “Into a New Life” symphonic march 
• Bronze: none awarded 

Berlin 1936 
   Solo and chorus

• Gold: Paul Hoffer (Ger): Olympic Vow 
• Silver: Kurt Thomas (Ger): Olympic Cantata 1936 
• Bronze: Harald Genzmer (Ger): The Runner 

   Instrumental: none awarded

   Orchestral

• Gold: Werner Egk (Ger): Olympic Festive Music 
• Silver: Lino Liviabella (Ita): The Victor 
• Bronze: Jaroslav Kricka (Tch): Mountain Suite 

London 1948 
   Vocal:

• Gold: none awarded 
• Silver: none awarded 
• Bronze: Gabriele Bianchi (Ita): Inno Olimpionico 

   Instrumental and Chamber

• Gold: none awarded 
• Silver: John Weinzweig (Can): Divertimenti for Solo Flute and Strings 
• Bronze: Sergio Lauricella (Ita): Toccata per pianoforte 

   Choral and orchestral:

• Gold: Zbigniew Turksi (Pol): Olympic Symphony 
• Silver: Kalervo Tuukkanen (Fin) Karhunpyynti 
• Bronze: Erling Brene (Den): Viguer