Music, Compositions For Solo Or Chorus, Open

There were just eight entries in this event, of which the three German ones were each awarded with a medal. This might seem unsurprising, given that the nine-strong jury contained no less than seven Germans, but it had been decided that their combined vote would be counted as one. While the winner of the CompOsitions for Orchestra, Werner Egk was favored by the Nazi government, the Solo/Chorus victor was Paul Höffer, who had been derisively described as a “Cultural Bolshevist”. However, his choral work, Olympischer Schwur (Olympic Oath), might have had an edge with the jury, as the lyrics had been provided by Pierre, Baron de Coubertin, president of the IOC (and himself winner of an Olympic art medal in 1912). It is unknown whether this information was known to the jury at the time.

A novelty in Olympic music contests was that the winning works were performed live during the Olympics. During a concert on 15 August at the Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne (part of the Olympic complex), both Höffer’s winning entry and Kurt Thomas’ Kantate zur Olympiade 1936 were played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert had been opened with a version of the Olympic Hymn by Richard Strauss. 20,000 spectators attended the concert.