Music Critics

[Serial_Apologist]

“The music critic has read more, heard more artists and attended more concerts than most of us. The one thing his competence does not extend to, is the ability to perform! He is a musical eunuch.”

Anon. Sometimes ascribed to George Bernard Shaw

... or Sir Thomas Beecham?

'nuff said
HS

Probably not GBS, who was himself a sometimes perceptive music critic.

It has sometimes said that musicians and composers make their own best critics. Indeed it has also been said that the music critic is like one who, to misquote GBS, critiques what he or she cannot do.

In a way, speaking as an occasional member of the self-appointed, we are pimps who hopefully intercede for the purpose of enlighening the public with details on subjects we've at least mugged up on when the subject matter may, as far as presumed qualities are concerned, be as much in contention among our brigade as among the worlds of those who create it, whether as composers, performers, or all three! We non-musicians are placed in a privileged position to pontificate or elucidate; at best we may accord ourselves the merit of being in possession of a wide range of tastes and open-mindedness one would not automatically or justifiably expect of the composer or performer whose individuality may be hard-won. As one who has been asked to review recordings and performances, mostly of jazz, notwithstanding charges that critics in this country have a tendency to soft-pedal the home-grownh product, I have always turned down requests to review music that was not to my taste, feeling that the Cinderella world of jazz needs and deserves the maximum plaudits it can get. But I wonder what others think about this.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh dear! I knew someone who knew him well, and who was present in his home when the great man was paying a tradesman for some completed work - painting or carpentry, I forget which. Handing over a cheque for a 4-figure sum with a flourish, he said "There you are, my man, I can earn that in a couple of hours!"

You see, this is the thing! I once stood on for someone lecturing a couple of classes on jazz topics, and realised that the two hours' worth of "work" had earned me far, far more than most of the musicians I had talking about would have been paid for performing for that length of time!

[jean]

Probably not GBS, who was himself a sometimes perceptive music critic...

But it was he I believe who wrote the not dissimilar Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. In Man and Superman, Google tells me.

(And those who can't teach become HMIs, we used to add. Modern version ...work for OFSTED.)

[Richard Barrett]

“The music critic has read more, heard more artists and attended more concerts than most of us. The one thing his competence does not extend to, is the ability to perform! He is a musical eunuch.”

Are you paraphrasing from memory? because I can't find this statement ascribed to anyone!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Are you paraphrasing from memory? because I can't find this statement ascribed to anyone!

The nearest I could find was Brendan Behan's Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

[Richard Barrett]

The nearest I could find was Brendan Behan's Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

Indeed. Now I have a fairly healthy disrespect for critics, as is probably obvious, but I'm with Dr Johnson on this one. I reserve the right to criticise the people renovating the flat upstairs when their activities make my ceiling crack, and I don't expect to be told my comments have no validity because I couldn't do any better myself.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"You may abuse a tragedy, though you cannot write one. You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you cannot make a table. It is not your trade to make tables."
Samuel Johnson

Well - yes. But this also highlights the necessity for critics to know what a table is, and how it should be used. Too much is of the nature of Mr Chippendale's "Table" will no doubt have its usual coterie of admirers and enthusiasts, but for myself, I found it far too high from the floor - I cannot myself imagine ever getting a full night's sleep on one.

[vinteuil]

Well - yes. But this also highlights the necessity for critics to know what a table is, and how it should be used. Too much is of the nature of Mr Chippendale's "Table" will no doubt have its usual coterie of admirers and enthusiasts, but for myself, I found it far too high from the floor - I cannot myself imagine ever getting a full night's sleep on one.

... brilliant .

[Bryn]

Well - yes. But this also highlights the necessity for critics to know what a table is, and how it should be used. Too much is of the nature of Mr Chippendale's "Table" will no doubt have its usual coterie of admirers and enthusiasts, but for myself, I found it far too high from the floor - I cannot myself imagine ever getting a full night's sleep on one.

Well:

The three men [as in "in a Boat"] at first reject the Stag because it has no honeysuckle over the door and also the Manor House (hotel) because they didn't like the look of a man who was leaning against the front door, but on being told these are the only two inns in the place they decide to forego such niceties. Returning to the Stag, the landlord tells them he hasn't got a bed vacant in the whole house; in fact he is already putting two or even three gentlemen in the same bed. When they suggest they could manage in the billiard room he replies, Very sorry sir, three gentlemen sleeping on the billiard table already and two in the coffee room.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

- snookered me there, Bryn! (Though I notice nobody mentions "comfort" anywhere there.)

[mahlerei]

Jayne, Alison

Re your comments about MusicWeb aren’t you being a tad harsh? It is a site staffed by volunteers, all with different levels of musical experience/training. Some reviewers are just informed enthusiasts who want to share their responses to reissues and new releases. We alsoreview out-of-the-way repertoire and labels that don't get a look in elsewhere.

Our remit has never been to challenge Gramophone or any other specialist publication, but to engage with readers of all persuasions/abilities. True, we don’t always manage that but we still sustain a sizeable audience and post several hundred reviews/articles every month. And then there's Seen and Heard, our daily compendium of live events from across the globe.

The labels seem perfectly happy with what we do; we receive hundreds of new discs every month, many more than we can usually deal with, and the labels/distributors don’t hesitate to reproduce our reviews – or parts thereof – on their websites and in their press releases/booklets. And as a frequent downloader I have unfettered access to most of the major DSPs, who are content to renew my 'subscription' from year to year.

And for those who wonder if we are somehow beholden to our advertisers that has never been the case. I have written more than a thousand reviews – sorry, descriptions – over the past ten years and I have never been ‘leaned on’ to produce a favourable one.

I'll get my coat...

[jayne lee wilson]

Oh I'm sorry, Mahlerei, but I did say "some" MusicWeb reviewers. It's very frustrating, looking for second opinions and yes, most especially about more familiar repertoire, when a reviewer says too little about the sound or the interpretation itself. There's so much other info out there, not least on Wiki, that lengthy, enthusiastic descriptions of the music feel unnecessary - they seem there to fill the page, I'm afraid.

I speak this feelingly, as I used to indulge in far too much of it myself......

(But on the other hand, after a link from PJPJ here, it was a fascinating Musicweb review (by Nick Barnard) of the Brilliant Box including Heinz Rogner's Bruckner that sent me on a really thrilling new Bruckner journey - not the ones reviewed (although I did eventually buy most of the Berlin Classics/King Remasters originals), but the serendipitous discovery of the live Weitblick/Rogner box on HMV.JP. It really is quite something!)

[Alison]

All fair comment Mahlerei and good reply Jayne.

Some of the reviewers are really good. I used to really enjoy Marc Bridle's contributions but don't see much of him now. Then there is Mark Berry and you're not so bad yourself!

It's no bad thing that in the online world critics themselves are not beyond criticism.

[makropulos]

This is a great thread. In the Gramophone archive the reviewers from the 50s and 60s I usually find most rewarding include the likes of Alec Robertson, Andrew Porter and Jeremy Noble, as well as Lionel Salter, John Warrack and my old friend Felix Aprahamian. Opera Magazine was unmissable for Rodney Milnes and, earlier, for Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Arthur Jacobs, Harold Rosenthal and others - and it still has some terrific writers.

[mahlerei]

All fair comment Mahlerei and good reply Jayne.

Some of the reviewers are really good. I used to really enjoy Marc Bridle's contributions but don't see much of him now. Then there is Mark Berry and you're not so bad yourself!

It's no bad thing that in the online world critics themselves are not beyond criticism.

Ali

Absolutely no quibbels with criticism, we just need to remind ourselves that MWI is aimed at a broad audience and not a narrower, more select one. If it were published monthly and subject to rigorous editorial control it would be very a different animal. As a daily staffed by volunteers it needs to be taken warts and all.

And yes, Mark Berry is always a good read. As for Marc, he's writing a bit more these days, but still not as much as he used to.