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| ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) | |
|---|---|
| Name | International Society for Contemporary Music |
| Abbreviation | ISCM |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Founder | Edward J. Dent; Cecil Gray; Hermann Scherchen; Frank Bridge |
| Headquarters | Vienna (original); later Prague; current secretariat varied |
| Focus | Promotion of contemporary classical music; international festivals; commissions |
ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) is an international network established in 1922 to promote new music by organizing festivals, commissions, and exchanges among composers and performers. The society connected figures from Vienna to Paris, Berlin, and Prague, creating platforms for premieres by composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and Béla Bartók. Over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries it influenced institutions like the BBC, Radio France, and the New York Philharmonic through festivals and programming partnerships.
The society was founded in 1922 in Salzburg with founders including Edward J. Dent, Hermann Scherchen, Cecil Gray, and Frank Bridge, amid post‑World War I cultural reconstruction alongside events like the Venice Biennale and the Donaueschingen Festival. Early Congresses and festivals brought together advocates of the Second Viennese School and proponents of neoclassicism alongside composers from France and Italy, such as Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Erik Satie. The interwar period saw tensions between proponents of serialism and more conservative modernists like Paul Hindemith, mirrored in disputes that involved institutions such as Gürzenich Orchestra and broadcasters like Deutsche Grammophon.
During the 1930s and 1940s political pressures from regimes in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy impacted membership and programming, with exiled composers including Alban Berg, Kurt Weill, and Franz Schreker finding new audiences via ISCM networks and festivals in London and New York City. The postwar era reunited figures from the Darmstadt School—including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and Luigi Nono—with members from Japan and the United States, influencing programming at organizations like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.
ISCM operates through national sections and an international Council, with national sections forming in countries including Austria, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, United States, Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and South Africa. The society’s governance has involved figures from institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Sibelius Academy, and the Moscow Conservatory. Membership categories include composers, performers, and organizational sections, with partnerships established with broadcasters like BBC Radio 3, Radio Télévision Suisse, and cultural ministries such as Ministry of Culture (France) and Bundesministerium für Kultur und Medien.
The annual ISCM World Music Days is a rotating festival presented by a host national section, previously held in cities including Prague, Basel, Helsinki, Warsaw, Tokyo, New York City, London, Madrid, Lyon, Brussels, Stuttgart, Oslo, Seoul, Toronto, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Istanbul, Zagreb, Copenhagen, Vienna, Gothenburg, Budapest, Riga, Reykjavík, Vilnius, Tallinn, Ljubljana, Milan, Florence, Palermo, Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, Skopje, Zagreb, and Prague again. World Music Days premiered works by John Cage, Benjamin Britten, György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Walter Piston, Elliott Carter, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Anton Webern, Ernst Krenek, Mieczysław Weinberg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Alan Hovhaness, Iannis Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi, Arvo Pärt, Kaija Saariaho, Tan Dun, Unsuk Chin, Magnus Lindberg, and Thomas Adès. Festivals often collaborate with ensembles such as Ensemble InterContemporain, London Sinfonietta, Asko Ensemble, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, and choruses like BBC Singers.
ISCM has facilitated commissions and awards recognizing contemporary composition, linking to prizes and institutions like the Grawemeyer Award, Pulitzer Prize for Music, Queen Elisabeth Competition, Prince Pierre Foundation, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Gaudeamus Prize, Nordic Council Music Prize, Praemium Imperiale, and national arts councils. Commissions have supported premieres by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, György Kurtág, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Alfred Schnittke, John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann, Per Nørgård, Rafael Kubelík, Nico Muhly, Pauline Oliveros, Gavin Bryars, Louis Andriessen, Michael Nyman, and Harrison Birtwistle. Awards associated with ISCM festivals spotlight emerging composers from national sections and often influence programming at venues such as Lincoln Center, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra Garnier, and Carnegie Hall.
ISCM’s networks shaped modern repertoire in conservatories and concert halls, informing curricula at the Royal College of Music, Eastman School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and Conservatorio di Milano. The society’s festivals and archives influenced musicologists studying figures like Theodor Adorno, Donald Tovey, Alban Berg, and Antonín Dvořák and informed recordings on labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, ECM Records, Nonesuch Records, Pitch Records, and Harmonia Mundi. ISCM’s legacy includes cross‑cultural exchanges that fostered contemporary music scenes in regions such as Latin America, East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, contributing to the global careers of composers presented at World Music Days.
Notable members, laureates, and premiered composers associated with ISCM festivals and commissions include Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti, Dmitri Shostakovich, John Cage, Benjamin Britten, Elliott Carter, Luciano Berio, Alban Berg, Paul Hindemith, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Kaija Saariaho, Iannis Xenakis, Thomas Adès, Unsuk Chin, Tan Dun, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Helmut Lachenmann, Giacinto Scelsi, Luigi Nono, Alfred Schnittke, György Kurtág, Mieczysław Weinberg, Rafael Kubelík, John Adams, Nico Muhly, Pauline Oliveros, Louis Andriessen, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Harrison Birtwistle, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Walter Piston, Ernst Krenek, and Arthur Honegger.
Category:Music organizations Category:Contemporary classical music