Page 301 - 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. 301
summaries
Bianca Schumann
“Catholic” Programme Music? Franz Liszt’s Religiosity
in the Focus of the Viennese Press (1857–1900)
Hardly any debates polarised the Viennese concert-going public in the 19th
century more than the one concerning the aesthetic value of symphonic
programme music. The Viennese press provided the arena for this great
battle: across a variety of newspapers, numerous critics crossed swords in
frequently polemical tones over this musical genre, which became estab-
lished in the 1850s. Interestingly, these composition and performance re-
views were rarely limited in their argumentation solely to the evaluation
of the musical texture. Reviewers also questioned both the aesthetic val-
ue of the main musical genres as well as the composers’ individual artistic
ability. In such author-focused discussions, aspects such as national identi-
ty or religious convictions also often came to the fore. This paper treats ex-
cerpts of this journalistic dispute from the perspective of reception histo-
ry and thereby focuses on one of those “non-musical” since biographically
oriented evaluation criteria. The aim is to understand the role that percep-
tions of Franz Liszt’s religious convictions played in the debate about his
symphonic programme music; i.e. in what way the selected reviewers’ mu-
sic criticism deployed this non-musical evaluative criterion – for what pur-
poses and with what intentions.
Keywords: Franz Liszt, Viennese Press, Symphonic Programme Music,
Religiosity
Borut Smrekar
What is happening to music criticism?
Signs of the changing role and importance of arts criticism can be seen in
the generalised reduction (or disappearance) of cultural content in media
where such content has been a constant presence for decades. The content
of criticism is also changing, with the disappearance of critical judgement
becoming increasingly noticeable. This is a wider social phenomenon that
is not limited to traditional fields of the arts. The reasons for such a develop-
ment are complex and rooted in profound social changes, the appearance
of new media and, not least, the excessive adaptability of critics. The start of
this development can be placed in the 1960s, at the time of the pop culture
revolution and the gradual affirmation of pop culture as the social and cul-
tural mainstream. A further point is that the internet has permitted a pseu-
do-democratisation of criticism. This means that the selection process that
301
Bianca Schumann
“Catholic” Programme Music? Franz Liszt’s Religiosity
in the Focus of the Viennese Press (1857–1900)
Hardly any debates polarised the Viennese concert-going public in the 19th
century more than the one concerning the aesthetic value of symphonic
programme music. The Viennese press provided the arena for this great
battle: across a variety of newspapers, numerous critics crossed swords in
frequently polemical tones over this musical genre, which became estab-
lished in the 1850s. Interestingly, these composition and performance re-
views were rarely limited in their argumentation solely to the evaluation
of the musical texture. Reviewers also questioned both the aesthetic val-
ue of the main musical genres as well as the composers’ individual artistic
ability. In such author-focused discussions, aspects such as national identi-
ty or religious convictions also often came to the fore. This paper treats ex-
cerpts of this journalistic dispute from the perspective of reception histo-
ry and thereby focuses on one of those “non-musical” since biographically
oriented evaluation criteria. The aim is to understand the role that percep-
tions of Franz Liszt’s religious convictions played in the debate about his
symphonic programme music; i.e. in what way the selected reviewers’ mu-
sic criticism deployed this non-musical evaluative criterion – for what pur-
poses and with what intentions.
Keywords: Franz Liszt, Viennese Press, Symphonic Programme Music,
Religiosity
Borut Smrekar
What is happening to music criticism?
Signs of the changing role and importance of arts criticism can be seen in
the generalised reduction (or disappearance) of cultural content in media
where such content has been a constant presence for decades. The content
of criticism is also changing, with the disappearance of critical judgement
becoming increasingly noticeable. This is a wider social phenomenon that
is not limited to traditional fields of the arts. The reasons for such a develop-
ment are complex and rooted in profound social changes, the appearance
of new media and, not least, the excessive adaptability of critics. The start of
this development can be placed in the 1960s, at the time of the pop culture
revolution and the gradual affirmation of pop culture as the social and cul-
tural mainstream. A further point is that the internet has permitted a pseu-
do-democratisation of criticism. This means that the selection process that
301
