1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition

The 1928 International Columbia Graphophone Competition was a competition part-sponsored by the Columbia Record Company in honour of the centenary of the death of Franz Schubert. Its original aim was to encourage composers to produce completions of Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony but the rules were modified several times to allow the submission of original symphonic works. Preliminary rounds were judged on a country or area basis, and the winning works at this level were then forwarded to the final judging for the world prize, which took place in Vienna. Notable composers who gained prizes in the country categories included Havergal Brian, Czesław Marek and Franz Schmidt, but the overall prize, after a wrangle among the judges, was awarded to the Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg for his Sixth Symphony.

Organized jointly by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna and the Columbia Graphophone Company of Britain and America, the competition was originally announced on 26 June 1927 as a contest for composers from around the world to complete Schubert's Symphony in B minor, D. 759 (the Unfinished). Between July 1927 and February 1928 the rules of entry were modified several times to allow the submission of original works rather than a completion of Schubert, and also to permit the use, if prospective completers wished, of Schubert's own sketches for the third movement of the Unfinished. Those composers who wished to submit a completion of Schubert's work were to use an orchestra no larger than that already employed in the existing movements of the Unfinished. As far as the submission of individual works was concerned, in October 1927 the organizers stipulated that these should be 'in two movements, composed in the Romantic spirit that animates Schubert's music'. Only a few weeks later this formulation was changed to 'symphonic works in one or more movements, presented as an apotheosis of the lyrical genius of Schubert'; it was also suggested, though not stipulated, that there could be non-symphonic works, as long as these were sets of variations on Schubert themes, but all works had to be for orchestra. Later still, a further revision of the rules stated that 'the compositions, apart from faultless formal structure, must be marked by the predominance of a vigorous melodic content, and the number of instruments employed must not substantially exceed the measure established by the classical orchestras of Schubert's time'.

...
Wikipedia