Edward Greenfield (1928 - 2015)

[mahlerei]

Sad to hear that the veteran critic EG died yesterday. I have very fond memories of his inimitable reviewing style in Gramophone and elsewhere. Also his Saturday morning Record Review on the BBC World Service in the late 1970s. Was always a trial to hear the latter over shortwave static but well worth it in the end. RIP

[Stunsworth]

Sad news. He was one of the people who helped me when I was first 'getting into' classical music - not personally, but though his broadcasts.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Sad, indeed - one of those voices from my teens and early twenties; and such Henry Sandonesque enthusiasm for the mainstream repertoire (Mozart - Britten); quite infectious. (Though also a little disconcerting - there was a period in the very early '80s when a new recording of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony appeared practically every month: as they came out, one-by-one, he described them as "the best one yet" in each successive issue of Gramophone!)

RIP. and many thanks, EG

[Pabmusic]

...there was a period in the very early '80s when a new recording of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony appeared practically every month: as they came out, one-by-one, he described them as "the best one yet" in each successive issue of Gramophone!)...

Yes - I'd forgotten.

[gurnemanz]

RIP EG. He was everywhere. I was a Gramophone subscriber and used the The Penguin Guide a lot when it first came out. At one time I was a Guardian reader and remember enjoying his many contributions there.

[Stanley Stewart]

I derived much pleasure from his writing and broadcasts - developed a compelling gravelly voice over the years. High standards and a rare talent to match it, too! RIP.

[french frank]

And ironically, he was one of those, with Peter Maxwell Davies, who queried the policy for Radio 3 to focus on classical music, to the possible exclusion of the speech programmes that had featured on the Third Programme, with the possible result that people might lose 'whole realms of experience'.

[vinteuil]

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http://spitalfieldslife.com/2015/07/02/so-long-edward-greenfield/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O4JFA7LSq8

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[Lordgeous]

Very sad to hear this. I got to know him quite well in my 'composing days'. A nice man and a kind critic. He will be missed. Thanks Ted.

[moeranbiogman]

RIP Edward Greenfield

Passed peacefully on 1st July.

[jayne lee wilson]

I learnt so much from him and the classic Old Gramophonians - The Stereo Record Guide, Layton-March-Greenfield, the thrill of discovery!
Sheer enthusiasm, looking for what's good in a recording, not taking the easy route into egoism, clever-clever dismissal and carping...

Thanks for it all, Ed!

[Stanfordian]

Sad, indeed - one of those voices from my teens and early twenties; and such Henry Sandonesque enthusiasm for the mainstream repertoire (Mozart - Britten); quite infectious. (Though also a little disconcerting - there was a period in the very early '80s when a new recording of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony appeared practically every month: as they came out, one-by-one, he described them as "the best one yet" in each successive issue of Gramophone!)

RIP. and many thanks, EG

Hiya ferneyhoughgeliebte,

A nice memory to hold. New recordings of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony are still coming thick and fast.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I learnt so much from him and the classic Old Gramophonians - The Stereo Record Guide, Layton-March-Greenfield, the thrill of discovery!
Sheer enthusiasm, looking for what's good in a recording, not taking the easy route into egoism, clever-clever dismissal and carping...

Thanks for it all, Ed!

Indeed yes. A critic who put the music first.

[mahlerei]

Hiya ferneyhoughgeliebte,

A nice memory to hold. New recordings of the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony are still coming thick and fast.

Aren't they just?! One of the fillers on Slatkin's new Naxos recording - Cyprés et Lauriers - is a lot of fun, though.

[BBMmk2]

Oh no! Another stalwart of the music critic scene has left us. A sad day and a great loss. Like JLW, I learnt an awful lot from this man. RIP