Some things never change.
It was the vision of Pierre de Coubertin, in founding the modern Olympic Games, that his competition would uphold the classical ideal of all-around excellence. This meant not only in athletics, but also in music and literature. This is what would elevate his Games above all other sports championships.
Unfortunately, even in 1896, the concept proved to be a hard sell. In fact, it wasn’t until 1912, in Stockholm, that Coubertin’s original plan received any kind of traction. That’s the year Riccardo Barthelemy, Caruso’s pianist, received a gold medal for his “Marcia trionfale olimpica” (“Olympic Triumphal March”).
It was not only the committee that proved to be suspicious of this particular aspect of the competition. The world’s great composers also demonstrably shied away. While undoubtedly well-intentioned, those who initiated the event had little experience in the arts. They were accustomed to judging speed and distance, as opposed to compositional excellence. Furthermore, the musical submissions were expected to be in some way sports-oriented. Composers love awards as much as anyone, but this particular contest, initiated in the Titanic year of 1912, seemed like a recipe for disaster.
By 1924, for the Olympiad in Paris, the committee managed to assemble a panel of 43 judges, some of them very reputable indeed, including Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, and Maurice Ravel. Unfortunately, with so many chefs, they couldn’t come to a consensus – or perhaps harbored reservations about the quality of the entries – and no medal was awarded.
In 1928, the best they could muster was a bronze for Rudolph Simonsen, who later became director of the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
The most famous composer to participate in these Olympic competitions was Josef Suk – pupil and son-in-law of Antonin Dvořák – and even he only merited a silver in 1932.
Eventually, to cloak the embarrassment of not generating enough medals, the ranking system was replaced with “Honorable Mention.” It was hoped the category would continue to be attractive to promising young composers, but it virtually killed the possibility of drawing any big names.
Arts competitions remained part of the Olympic Games until 1948. Other categories included architecture, literature, painting, and sculpture. Ultimately, these competitions were discontinued because of concerns about the artists being professionals, in contrast to the amateur status of the athletes. A non-competitive art and cultural festival has been presented in conjunction with the games since 1952. A vast majority of the music composed for these Olympic competitions has never been recorded.
Rudolph Simonsen, Symphony No. 2 “Hellas” (1928 Bronze Medal winner)
Josef Suk, “Towards a New Life” (1932 Silver Medal winner)
