Page 16 - 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. 16
glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
Given Hanslick’s reputation, the most surprising aspect of the state-
ment quoted above is the author’s emphasis on the “educative” importance
of criticism, rather than on its aesthetic role – as we might have expected
from a man who in his day was the champion of formalist aesthetics. On
the other hand, this conception of the critic as public educator points to one
of the fundamental roles of criticism in the nineteenth century: a model de-
rived from the Enlightenment in which criticism is seen as one of the most
important shapers of public opinion. While it is probable that the essential
educational mission of criticism remains the same, it is a fact that the de-
cline of print media and the increasing predominance of elements of popu-
lar culture have seen the role of criticism change significantly. From one of
the central genres of the so-called newspaper civilisation of the nineteenth
century, to the almost total marginalisation of art music criticism that we
are faced with today.
The absence of the latter appears to be the result of certain tecton-
ic shifts in society and the utterly transformed role of the arts and media
in the present age. This is to a large extent driven by the digital transfor-
mation, with a radically altered media landscape characterised by chang-
es in the speed and quantity of information – and the ways we access it –
that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. It is, of course, true that the
number of concerts and other events that can be enjoyed from the comfort
of one’s own armchair with just a few clicks of a mouse, along with record-
ings posted on YouTube, specialised TV programmes dedicated to classi-
cal music, freely accessible digital databases of serious music, and so on,
allow greater access to concerts and opera performances than ever before.
On the other hand, it is precisely because of the oversaturation that charac-
terises the modern digital environment more than at any time in the past
that there is a lack, on the part of users or recipients, of that indispensable
critical reflection on content and message that makes it possible to sepa-
rate the wheat from the chaff. At a time when the absence of authorities is
ever more marked, anonymous comments dominate the discourse and the
dependence of media on commercial considerations – in other words the
number of clicks – is increasingly apparent, even artistic criticism is facing
more difficult challenges than at any time in its history. It is an unfortunate
fact that, more and more often, quantitative criteria – not only in smaller
media but also in some mainstream media – are becoming decisive both
for the treatment afforded to an individual artistic event and for the evalu-
16
Given Hanslick’s reputation, the most surprising aspect of the state-
ment quoted above is the author’s emphasis on the “educative” importance
of criticism, rather than on its aesthetic role – as we might have expected
from a man who in his day was the champion of formalist aesthetics. On
the other hand, this conception of the critic as public educator points to one
of the fundamental roles of criticism in the nineteenth century: a model de-
rived from the Enlightenment in which criticism is seen as one of the most
important shapers of public opinion. While it is probable that the essential
educational mission of criticism remains the same, it is a fact that the de-
cline of print media and the increasing predominance of elements of popu-
lar culture have seen the role of criticism change significantly. From one of
the central genres of the so-called newspaper civilisation of the nineteenth
century, to the almost total marginalisation of art music criticism that we
are faced with today.
The absence of the latter appears to be the result of certain tecton-
ic shifts in society and the utterly transformed role of the arts and media
in the present age. This is to a large extent driven by the digital transfor-
mation, with a radically altered media landscape characterised by chang-
es in the speed and quantity of information – and the ways we access it –
that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. It is, of course, true that the
number of concerts and other events that can be enjoyed from the comfort
of one’s own armchair with just a few clicks of a mouse, along with record-
ings posted on YouTube, specialised TV programmes dedicated to classi-
cal music, freely accessible digital databases of serious music, and so on,
allow greater access to concerts and opera performances than ever before.
On the other hand, it is precisely because of the oversaturation that charac-
terises the modern digital environment more than at any time in the past
that there is a lack, on the part of users or recipients, of that indispensable
critical reflection on content and message that makes it possible to sepa-
rate the wheat from the chaff. At a time when the absence of authorities is
ever more marked, anonymous comments dominate the discourse and the
dependence of media on commercial considerations – in other words the
number of clicks – is increasingly apparent, even artistic criticism is facing
more difficult challenges than at any time in its history. It is an unfortunate
fact that, more and more often, quantitative criteria – not only in smaller
media but also in some mainstream media – are becoming decisive both
for the treatment afforded to an individual artistic event and for the evalu-
16
