Donaueschingen 1922/23
During the years 1922 and 1923, the music committee basically remained true to its maxim of only introducing young and unknown composers. At the concerts of 1922, with the exceptions of Ernst Krenek and Paul Hindemith, only composers whose works had not so far been heard at Donaueschingen were selected from amongst the applicants. In 1923 Fidelio Finke and Philipp Jarnach were no longer new discoveries, either.
None of these composers, however, was able to achieve a success as great as that of Hindemith. With the premiere performances in 1922 of his Kammermusik No. 1, Op. 24 No. 1 and the song cycle Die junge Magd, Op. 23 No. 2, his reputation was confirmed as the most gifted representative of the musical avant garde in Germany. After the rather moderate success of the 1923 Music Days, less due to the quality of the compositions than to the outstanding interpretative art of the Amar Quartet, the level of the event threatened to founder. Continuation of the chamber music days was endangered not only by the galloping inflation of the year 1923, but also by the lack of concepts that seemed to have a promising future.
