Page 299 - 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. 299
summaries
merits of much contemporary music, then widely disparaged by influential
senior British musicians. After leaving The Observer, he embarked on a var-
ied programme of musical activities arising directly from his critical work
with the newspapers. As director of the unique Dartington Summer School
of Music in England, he attracted important mainly European composers,
and became the founding editor of the influential periodical, The Score and
IMA Magazine, and produced a wide-ranging survey of new music in Eu-
rope for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Third Programme.
In 1959 he was appointed Controller of Music at the BBC. 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
and Stockhausen. Later he became the General Editor of Eulenburg Books
which published a number of excellent volumes, mostly on contemporary
music. He initiated a stream of BBC commissions that helped a number of
composers. Now, not without controversy, he had the British musical pub-
lic at his command.
Using all these activities, Glock singled out for special treatment three com-
posers who had not yet established themselves among British audiences:
Roberto Gerhard, Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez, with performances,
commissions and writings. Glock presented Gerhard, who had hardly any
published works of his own, with a career-changing edition of The Score
which featured in-depth studies of his music. He also brought Gerhard’s
name to the musical public with important BBC performances. Carter’s
music was actively promoted by Glock. The first comprehensive analytical
study of Carter’s music was published by Eulenburg, under Glock’s editor-
ship, transforming at a stroke the reception of his music, especially in Eu-
rope. Glock daringly presented Le marteau sans maître by Boulez in a pub-
lic studio concert sandwiched between the performance of the two great
string quintets by Mozart. He then ensured that his music regularly ap-
peared, on prominent platforms provided by the BBC. Boulez’s music also
benefitted enormously from two books published under the editorship of
Glock. It would be difficult to overestimate his influence on the develop-
ment of these three composers. All this was achieved by a musician who
had spent his formative working years as a music critic, reporting on con-
certs, broadcasts, writing obituaries and making critical assessments of the
work of composers and performing musicians.
Keywords: William Glock, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Roberto
Gerhard, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez
299
merits of much contemporary music, then widely disparaged by influential
senior British musicians. After leaving The Observer, he embarked on a var-
ied programme of musical activities arising directly from his critical work
with the newspapers. As director of the unique Dartington Summer School
of Music in England, he attracted important mainly European composers,
and became the founding editor of the influential periodical, The Score and
IMA Magazine, and produced a wide-ranging survey of new music in Eu-
rope for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Third Programme.
In 1959 he was appointed Controller of Music at the BBC. 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
and Stockhausen. Later he became the General Editor of Eulenburg Books
which published a number of excellent volumes, mostly on contemporary
music. He initiated a stream of BBC commissions that helped a number of
composers. Now, not without controversy, he had the British musical pub-
lic at his command.
Using all these activities, Glock singled out for special treatment three com-
posers who had not yet established themselves among British audiences:
Roberto Gerhard, Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez, with performances,
commissions and writings. Glock presented Gerhard, who had hardly any
published works of his own, with a career-changing edition of The Score
which featured in-depth studies of his music. He also brought Gerhard’s
name to the musical public with important BBC performances. Carter’s
music was actively promoted by Glock. The first comprehensive analytical
study of Carter’s music was published by Eulenburg, under Glock’s editor-
ship, transforming at a stroke the reception of his music, especially in Eu-
rope. Glock daringly presented Le marteau sans maître by Boulez in a pub-
lic studio concert sandwiched between the performance of the two great
string quintets by Mozart. He then ensured that his music regularly ap-
peared, on prominent platforms provided by the BBC. Boulez’s music also
benefitted enormously from two books published under the editorship of
Glock. It would be difficult to overestimate his influence on the develop-
ment of these three composers. All this was achieved by a musician who
had spent his formative working years as a music critic, reporting on con-
certs, broadcasts, writing obituaries and making critical assessments of the
work of composers and performing musicians.
Keywords: William Glock, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Roberto
Gerhard, Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez
299
