Page 135 - 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. 135
putting music criticism to positive purpose: william glock ...
ris Blacher, Enesco and Nadia Boulanger. It operated for five years before
being transferred in 1952 to Dartington Hall in Devon (also in the South
of England) where it really gained in importance, with many leading com-
posers such as Berio, Nono, Maderna, Stravinsky and many others taking
a prominent part.
Supplementing this was the invitation to Glock to become the edi-
tor of a new periodical called The Score and IMA Magazine which ran for
28 issues between 1949 and 1961. By all accounts it was a publication that
was eagerly read by composers and performers alike, not just in the Unit-
ed Kingdom, but also in Europe and most importantly in the United States.
Numerous articles were contributed by composers such as Roger Sessions,
Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Stravinsky, Luigi Nono, Roman Vlad, Luciano
Berio and even more significantly, Roberto Gerhard, Elliott Carter and
Pierre Boulez. Informed and informative articles appeared that presented
composers who were very little known at the time in the United Kingdom,
such as Hans Werner Henze, Goffredo Petrassi and Edgard Varèse. Special
issues were devoted to Stravinsky, who of course was well known, mainly
from his early Russian ballets, but also the then little known Olivier Messi-
aen as the centre of attention in three extensive and well informed articles
by the brilliant young David Drew10. One whole issue was devoted to the de-
tailed study of the music of the virtually unknown Roberto Gerhard, who
then had only four published works and whose music was rarely performed
in the country of his escape from Spain. Boulez’s notorious article “Schoen-
berg is dead”11 was an early contribution, as was the famous essay by Theo-
dor W. Adorno entitled “Modern Music is Growing Old”.12
BBC Controller of Music
In 1959 Glock was appointed Controller of Music at the British Broadcast-
ing Corporation (BBC), a position of considerable influence. He complete-
ly overhauled the content of the BBC’s Third Programme and the Proms.
He introduced into the broadcasts and the concerts much more adventur-
ous music, especially the contemporary music now being performed on
the continent, notably works by Stravinsky, Webern, Schoenberg, Boulez
10 David Drew, “Messiaen—a provisional study,” The Score and IMA Magazine 10 (De-
cember 1954): 33–49; 13 (September 1955): 59–73; 14 (December 1955): 41–61.
11 Pierre Boulez, “Schoenberg is Dead,” The Score and IMA Magazine 6 (May 1952): 16–
22.
12 Theodor W. Adorno, “Modern Music is Growing Old,” The Score and IMA Magazine
18 (December 1956): 27–34.
135
ris Blacher, Enesco and Nadia Boulanger. It operated for five years before
being transferred in 1952 to Dartington Hall in Devon (also in the South
of England) where it really gained in importance, with many leading com-
posers such as Berio, Nono, Maderna, Stravinsky and many others taking
a prominent part.
Supplementing this was the invitation to Glock to become the edi-
tor of a new periodical called The Score and IMA Magazine which ran for
28 issues between 1949 and 1961. By all accounts it was a publication that
was eagerly read by composers and performers alike, not just in the Unit-
ed Kingdom, but also in Europe and most importantly in the United States.
Numerous articles were contributed by composers such as Roger Sessions,
Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Stravinsky, Luigi Nono, Roman Vlad, Luciano
Berio and even more significantly, Roberto Gerhard, Elliott Carter and
Pierre Boulez. Informed and informative articles appeared that presented
composers who were very little known at the time in the United Kingdom,
such as Hans Werner Henze, Goffredo Petrassi and Edgard Varèse. Special
issues were devoted to Stravinsky, who of course was well known, mainly
from his early Russian ballets, but also the then little known Olivier Messi-
aen as the centre of attention in three extensive and well informed articles
by the brilliant young David Drew10. One whole issue was devoted to the de-
tailed study of the music of the virtually unknown Roberto Gerhard, who
then had only four published works and whose music was rarely performed
in the country of his escape from Spain. Boulez’s notorious article “Schoen-
berg is dead”11 was an early contribution, as was the famous essay by Theo-
dor W. Adorno entitled “Modern Music is Growing Old”.12
BBC Controller of Music
In 1959 Glock was appointed Controller of Music at the British Broadcast-
ing Corporation (BBC), a position of considerable influence. He complete-
ly overhauled the content of the BBC’s Third Programme and the Proms.
He introduced into the broadcasts and the concerts much more adventur-
ous music, especially the contemporary music now being performed on
the continent, notably works by Stravinsky, Webern, Schoenberg, Boulez
10 David Drew, “Messiaen—a provisional study,” The Score and IMA Magazine 10 (De-
cember 1954): 33–49; 13 (September 1955): 59–73; 14 (December 1955): 41–61.
11 Pierre Boulez, “Schoenberg is Dead,” The Score and IMA Magazine 6 (May 1952): 16–
22.
12 Theodor W. Adorno, “Modern Music is Growing Old,” The Score and IMA Magazine
18 (December 1956): 27–34.
135
