Page 133 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
P. 133
putting music criticism to positive purpose: william glock ...
a degree in History and started a Music degree which he did not complete.
His musical experience was enormous, however, especially as an organ
scholar and regular performer. He was able to continue his piano playing,
including a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor under
Boris Ord, the Director of Music at King’s College. Having heard Artur
Schnabel play in Cambridge, he determined to study piano with him. De-
spite narrow-minded discouragement from the composers Vaughan Wil-
liams and Herbert Howells, but with help from Professor Edward Dent and
valuable financial support, he was able to study with Schnabel in Berlin for
nearly three years, before returning to London in 1933 when conditions be-
came difficult. With few prospects at the time of advancing his career on
the piano, he accepted a job as Music Critic for the London newspaper The
Daily Telegraph, moving a year later to a similar position at the weekly Sun-
day newspaper The Observer until 1946. This provided the firm foundation
for his future activities which changed the musical life of Britain for ever.
His columns make very interesting reading today, focussing on a very wide
and interesting range of topics, but notably considering the merits of much
contemporary music, then widely disparaged by influential senior British
musicians.
Glock’s first experience of writing criticism for a newspaper gave him
little time for reflection. Reports for The Daily Telegraph had to be submit-
ted for publication the next day, usually consisting of simple descriptions
and occasional critical remarks. Those for the weekly Sunday newspaper
The Observer gave scope for thoughtful criticism in addition to factual re-
porting of events. A selection of reviews will give some idea of the scope of
his writings. For example, in the pre-World War Two years Glock was giv-
en the opportunity to report somewhat controversially from the Salzburg
Festival in August 19364 in which the performances of Verdi’s Falstaff, di-
rected by Toscanini, Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Bruno Walter and Mo-
zart’s Cosi fan tutte under Weingartner are reported and assessed critical-
ly. Glock was particularly impressive in his analysis of the performances of
the most important singers as well as the contributions of the conductors. A
report from concerts in Linz in 19365 highlighted the symphonies of Bruck-
ner, then almost unknown in England, and for which he gave very sympa-
thetic accounts of their features. During the war Glock was able to carry on
his reports to The Observer with some considerable difficulty while working
4 William Glock, “The Salzburg Festival,” The Observer, August 9, 1936, 13.
5 William Glock, “The Festival at Linz,” The Observer, July 26, 1936, 13.
133
a degree in History and started a Music degree which he did not complete.
His musical experience was enormous, however, especially as an organ
scholar and regular performer. He was able to continue his piano playing,
including a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor under
Boris Ord, the Director of Music at King’s College. Having heard Artur
Schnabel play in Cambridge, he determined to study piano with him. De-
spite narrow-minded discouragement from the composers Vaughan Wil-
liams and Herbert Howells, but with help from Professor Edward Dent and
valuable financial support, he was able to study with Schnabel in Berlin for
nearly three years, before returning to London in 1933 when conditions be-
came difficult. With few prospects at the time of advancing his career on
the piano, he accepted a job as Music Critic for the London newspaper The
Daily Telegraph, moving a year later to a similar position at the weekly Sun-
day newspaper The Observer until 1946. This provided the firm foundation
for his future activities which changed the musical life of Britain for ever.
His columns make very interesting reading today, focussing on a very wide
and interesting range of topics, but notably considering the merits of much
contemporary music, then widely disparaged by influential senior British
musicians.
Glock’s first experience of writing criticism for a newspaper gave him
little time for reflection. Reports for The Daily Telegraph had to be submit-
ted for publication the next day, usually consisting of simple descriptions
and occasional critical remarks. Those for the weekly Sunday newspaper
The Observer gave scope for thoughtful criticism in addition to factual re-
porting of events. A selection of reviews will give some idea of the scope of
his writings. For example, in the pre-World War Two years Glock was giv-
en the opportunity to report somewhat controversially from the Salzburg
Festival in August 19364 in which the performances of Verdi’s Falstaff, di-
rected by Toscanini, Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Bruno Walter and Mo-
zart’s Cosi fan tutte under Weingartner are reported and assessed critical-
ly. Glock was particularly impressive in his analysis of the performances of
the most important singers as well as the contributions of the conductors. A
report from concerts in Linz in 19365 highlighted the symphonies of Bruck-
ner, then almost unknown in England, and for which he gave very sympa-
thetic accounts of their features. During the war Glock was able to carry on
his reports to The Observer with some considerable difficulty while working
4 William Glock, “The Salzburg Festival,” The Observer, August 9, 1936, 13.
5 William Glock, “The Festival at Linz,” The Observer, July 26, 1936, 13.
133
