Page 273 - 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. 273
what is happening to music criticism?
clusion to her study, Cristina Şuteu states that each of the authors she cov-
ers shares the view that
formal musical training is a sine qua non in the critical act. Starting
from the same premise, their unanimous purpose is forming a viable
judgement of value. Between these two coordinates, each author pre-
sents their ‘method’ which in their opinion will lead to the establish-
ment of principles concerning music.42
Practical experience of music and the broadest possible education are also
desirable qualities in a critic.
Rational and emotional perception must be balanced, or, as Oscar
Thompson puts it:
The critic’s emotional, subjective involvement is allowed, because it is
necessary; without such involvement, music could not be experienced,
and the critic cannot exclude his feelings entirely in order to be pure-
ly objective. However, he is advised to not let himself be dominated by
them, and thus become their slave.43
This view echoes that of the seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal:
Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the
process of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight, and are
not used to seek for principles. And others, on the contrary, who are ac-
customed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters of
feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance . . .44
At this point I would like to mention two further important character-
istics of the critical personality: ethical integrity and soundness of judge-
ment. Despite the diminishing presence of criticism, the critic still enjoys
privileged access to the public discourse. This requires a corresponding
sense of moral responsibility. The critic is a judge who expresses aesthetic
judgements, so ethical integrity and soundness of judgement are reasonable
requirements, although not always evident in practice. The Columbia Uni-
versity survey of music critics includes a special section dedicated to ethi-
cal issues. The great majority of critics found the following practices to be
“never acceptable”:
– making money as a promoter or musician’s agent;
42 Ibid., 124.
43 Ibid., 108.
44 Ibid., 116.
273
clusion to her study, Cristina Şuteu states that each of the authors she cov-
ers shares the view that
formal musical training is a sine qua non in the critical act. Starting
from the same premise, their unanimous purpose is forming a viable
judgement of value. Between these two coordinates, each author pre-
sents their ‘method’ which in their opinion will lead to the establish-
ment of principles concerning music.42
Practical experience of music and the broadest possible education are also
desirable qualities in a critic.
Rational and emotional perception must be balanced, or, as Oscar
Thompson puts it:
The critic’s emotional, subjective involvement is allowed, because it is
necessary; without such involvement, music could not be experienced,
and the critic cannot exclude his feelings entirely in order to be pure-
ly objective. However, he is advised to not let himself be dominated by
them, and thus become their slave.43
This view echoes that of the seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal:
Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the
process of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight, and are
not used to seek for principles. And others, on the contrary, who are ac-
customed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters of
feeling, seeking principles, and being unable to see at a glance . . .44
At this point I would like to mention two further important character-
istics of the critical personality: ethical integrity and soundness of judge-
ment. Despite the diminishing presence of criticism, the critic still enjoys
privileged access to the public discourse. This requires a corresponding
sense of moral responsibility. The critic is a judge who expresses aesthetic
judgements, so ethical integrity and soundness of judgement are reasonable
requirements, although not always evident in practice. The Columbia Uni-
versity survey of music critics includes a special section dedicated to ethi-
cal issues. The great majority of critics found the following practices to be
“never acceptable”:
– making money as a promoter or musician’s agent;
42 Ibid., 124.
43 Ibid., 108.
44 Ibid., 116.
273
