Page 152 - 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
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glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
ment was not in the paper’s interest and would lead to no further invita-
tions to review future performances, as well as no future advertisements by
the opera company.
Finally, some of the reviews published in Irish papers were essentially
lifted from British papers which had reviewed the same productions before
they moved to Ireland (a common occurrence at the time). Ite O’Donovan
describes another practice at the time: “At other times the readers were ex-
pected and even directed to peruse the critiques published for the London the-
atres in order to familiarise themselves with the latest productions.”18
However, during the second half of the nineteenth century, stand-
ards began to gradually improve. Murphy links much of this to the first
performances of Wagner operas in Ireland (Lohengrin in 1875, The Flying
Dutchman in 1877) – discussing simply what distinguishes them from oth-
er operas required some musical expertise. It was also during this time that
music reviews began to be signed by their authors, so generally music criti-
cism began to move towards standards as we still know them today.19
Charles Acton and Irish Music Criticism in the Later Twentieth
Century
The career of Charles Acton probably marks a high point in Irish music
criticism. Acton (1914−1999) was the main music critic of the Irish Times
from 1955 until 1987. During this period he produced some 6,000 reviews in
“a polemical and eminently readable style,”20 focusing not just on classical
but also on traditional and sometimes even popular music. He was, how-
ever, never on a permanent contract and always got paid per review. De-
spite coming to this role after a chequered and not always very successful
career in several other areas (such as travel agent, charcoal manufacturer
and salesman for the Encyclopaedia Britannica), he became enormously in-
fluential in Irish musical life. As Richard Pine put it in his obituary for the
Guardian:
Charles Acton, music critic of the Irish Times who has died aged 84,
dominated musical life in Ireland. He was distinguished not only for
his trenchant criticism, which contributed to the development of mu-
18 Ite O’Donovan, “Music in Irish Periodical Literature 1770–1970” (PhD diss., Univer-
sity College Dublin, 2013), 105–6.
19 Murphy, “The Musical Press,” 265–9.
20 Gareth Cox, “Acton, Charles,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1
(Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), 5–6.
152
ment was not in the paper’s interest and would lead to no further invita-
tions to review future performances, as well as no future advertisements by
the opera company.
Finally, some of the reviews published in Irish papers were essentially
lifted from British papers which had reviewed the same productions before
they moved to Ireland (a common occurrence at the time). Ite O’Donovan
describes another practice at the time: “At other times the readers were ex-
pected and even directed to peruse the critiques published for the London the-
atres in order to familiarise themselves with the latest productions.”18
However, during the second half of the nineteenth century, stand-
ards began to gradually improve. Murphy links much of this to the first
performances of Wagner operas in Ireland (Lohengrin in 1875, The Flying
Dutchman in 1877) – discussing simply what distinguishes them from oth-
er operas required some musical expertise. It was also during this time that
music reviews began to be signed by their authors, so generally music criti-
cism began to move towards standards as we still know them today.19
Charles Acton and Irish Music Criticism in the Later Twentieth
Century
The career of Charles Acton probably marks a high point in Irish music
criticism. Acton (1914−1999) was the main music critic of the Irish Times
from 1955 until 1987. During this period he produced some 6,000 reviews in
“a polemical and eminently readable style,”20 focusing not just on classical
but also on traditional and sometimes even popular music. He was, how-
ever, never on a permanent contract and always got paid per review. De-
spite coming to this role after a chequered and not always very successful
career in several other areas (such as travel agent, charcoal manufacturer
and salesman for the Encyclopaedia Britannica), he became enormously in-
fluential in Irish musical life. As Richard Pine put it in his obituary for the
Guardian:
Charles Acton, music critic of the Irish Times who has died aged 84,
dominated musical life in Ireland. He was distinguished not only for
his trenchant criticism, which contributed to the development of mu-
18 Ite O’Donovan, “Music in Irish Periodical Literature 1770–1970” (PhD diss., Univer-
sity College Dublin, 2013), 105–6.
19 Murphy, “The Musical Press,” 265–9.
20 Gareth Cox, “Acton, Charles,” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1
(Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), 5–6.
152
