The anniversary commemorates the beginnings of New Music in 1946
The Darmstadt Summer Courses are celebrating their 80th anniversary this year. The first "Summer Courses for International New Music" were held at Kranichstein Hunting Lodge in 1946. What began as an event in the immediate post-war period has developed over eight decades into an internationally significant meeting place for contemporary music. The anniversary will be celebrated with concerts in Frankfurt and New York, culminating in a major event in Darmstadt in July 2027.
Planning for the first summer courses was initiated by Wolfgang Steinecke, then Darmstadt's cultural affairs officer, immediately after the end of the war. Darmstadt had been largely destroyed in the firebombing of September 1944. The new summer courses were therefore intended not only as a musical event, but also as part of the intellectual and democratic reconstruction.
Music that was banned during the Nazi era
Music that had been denounced as "degenerate" and banned during the Nazi era was once again performed, taught, and discussed in Darmstadt. For the first time in twelve years, young musicians from Germany met with colleagues from abroad. Concerts, lessons, and discussions, as well as open debate about aesthetics and new forms of expression, characterized the concept of the summer courses.
From this founding idea, an international reputation developed in the following decades. The combination of festival, academy, and forum for discussion made the Darmstadt Summer Courses a significant institution for contemporary music and the name Darmstadt internationally synonymous with new music.
Participants from approximately 50 nations
To this day, the summer courses attract young people from all over the world to Darmstadt. The city of Darmstadt, a center of science and research, supports and maintains them through the International Music Institute Darmstadt (IMD). Building and fostering international cultural relationships has been a central goal from the very beginning.
Every two years, people from around 50 nations come to the holiday courses. For two weeks, Darmstadt becomes a meeting place for the international music scene. At the same time, more than 50 public concerts throughout the city are aimed at the regional audience.
Another important aspect is the archive of the International Music Institute. According to the city, it preserves a globally unique record of music from 1945 onwards, and thus a significant part of the cultural heritage of the Darmstadt Summer Courses.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/stip)
