The International Composers' Guild (ICG) was a New York‑based organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of contemporary music. It was founded in 1921 by the composer Edgard Varèse and the harpist‑composer Carlos Salzedo, both of whom sought to create a venue for avant‑garde works that were not being presented by established concert societies.
Purpose and Activities
- The ICG’s stated aim was “to present the most advanced music of the day, regardless of nationality, to the public.”
- It organized a series of concert seasons, beginning with its inaugural concert on 19 February 1922 at the Greenwich Village Theatre. The program featured Varèse’s Hyperprism and works by other contemporary composers such as Charles Ives, Carl Ruggles, and Ruth Crawford.
- Concerts were often held in small, unconventional spaces (e.g., the Klaw Theatre, Carnegie Hall’s smaller recital rooms) to accommodate experimental sound projections and unconventional instrumentation.
- The Guild also published a modest amount of literature, including program notes and occasional pamphlets that explained the aesthetic goals of the presented works.
Membership and Notable Contributors
- Core founding members: Edgard Varèse, Carlos Salzedo, Ruth Crawford (later Ruth Crawford Seeger), Charles Ives, and Carl Ruggles.
- Additional composers whose works were performed include Ernest Bloch, Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Paul Hindemith, and Béla Bartók.
- The ICG operated on a democratic principle: each member could submit compositions for consideration, and programming decisions were made by a committee of the composers themselves rather than by an external impresario.
Historical Context and Dissolution
- The ICG emerged during a period when modernist composers in the United States faced limited opportunities for public performance. Its formation paralleled similar European initiatives, such as the Society for the Promotion of New Music in Britain.
- By the early 1930s, internal disagreements over artistic direction and administrative control led to a split. In 1931, a faction of members formed the League of Composers, which continued many of the ICG’s concert activities. Consequently, the International Composers' Guild ceased operations that same year.
Legacy
- Although short‑lived, the ICG played a crucial role in introducing American audiences to avant‑garde music and in fostering a community among experimental composers. Its early concerts are credited with helping to establish New York as a center for contemporary musical innovation during the twentieth century.
