Page 46 - 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. 46
glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
women composers through talking to musicians who presented a topical
CD featuring music written by women, for instance. The difference is that
he always acts as an advocate of good music – from the listener’s viewpoint.
Concerning women composers for instance he writes:
You almost never hear music by women in operas and concert halls
unjustly: German cellist Raphaela Gromes has tracked down women
composers who have been neglected for centuries. Her album proves
how many women have composed and above all: how good their mu-
sic is.23
In an article on the occasion of the death of Friedrich Cerha this can
also be observed, when he judges the quality of Cerha’s compositions by
distinguishing them from other types of new music that do not find the
critic’s approval. With respect to Cerha’s Baal he wrote:
Cerha had indeed opened the ears of music lovers with this coup. The
so-called New Music had lost its threatening potential; from now on,
people again followed with interest what the composers had to offer in
the way of novelties. [...] Cerha had succeeded in conveying to listeners
that his works, which were always highly complex, were after all com-
paratively ‘simple’ to decipher.24
This is the position of friend of music, der Musikfreund, the critical
consumer who wants to attend good performances and listen to interesting
works according to his educated taste. In the end with critics such as Sink-
ovicz it is still a bourgeois position that appears to have survived until to-
day, even if it is more an exception than the norm and does only cover the
interests of a small public, which even gets smaller and smaller. The criteri-
on behind his positive evaluation of Cerha is a well-known one going back
to the 18th century: only if the composer manages to find the right balance
23 “Fast nie hört man Musik von Frauen in den Opern und Konzerthäusern zu Unrecht:
die deutsche Cellistin Raphaela Gromes hat Komponistinnen aufgestöbert, die seit
Jahrhunderten vernachlässigt wurden. Ihr Album beweist, wie viele Frauen kompo-
niert haben und vor allem: wie gut deren Musik ist.” Cf. Wilhelm Sinkovicz, “Die
vergessenen Komponistinnen,” Die Presse am Sonntag, February 12, 2023, 42–3.
24 “Tatsächlich hatte Cerha mit diesem Coup den Musikfreunden die Ohren geöffnet.
Die sogenannte Neue Musik hatte ihr Bedrohungspotential verloren, Hinfort verfolgte
man wieder mit Interesse, was die Komponisten an Novitäten anzubieten hatten. [...]
Cerha war es gelungen, den Hörern zu vermitteln, seine immer hochkomplexen Wer-
ke seien ja doch vergleichsweise ‘einfach’ zu entschlüsseln.” Cf. Wilhelm Sinkovicz,
“Friedrich Cerha: Wiener Avantgarde-Urgründe,” Die Presse, February 15, 2023, 17.
46
women composers through talking to musicians who presented a topical
CD featuring music written by women, for instance. The difference is that
he always acts as an advocate of good music – from the listener’s viewpoint.
Concerning women composers for instance he writes:
You almost never hear music by women in operas and concert halls
unjustly: German cellist Raphaela Gromes has tracked down women
composers who have been neglected for centuries. Her album proves
how many women have composed and above all: how good their mu-
sic is.23
In an article on the occasion of the death of Friedrich Cerha this can
also be observed, when he judges the quality of Cerha’s compositions by
distinguishing them from other types of new music that do not find the
critic’s approval. With respect to Cerha’s Baal he wrote:
Cerha had indeed opened the ears of music lovers with this coup. The
so-called New Music had lost its threatening potential; from now on,
people again followed with interest what the composers had to offer in
the way of novelties. [...] Cerha had succeeded in conveying to listeners
that his works, which were always highly complex, were after all com-
paratively ‘simple’ to decipher.24
This is the position of friend of music, der Musikfreund, the critical
consumer who wants to attend good performances and listen to interesting
works according to his educated taste. In the end with critics such as Sink-
ovicz it is still a bourgeois position that appears to have survived until to-
day, even if it is more an exception than the norm and does only cover the
interests of a small public, which even gets smaller and smaller. The criteri-
on behind his positive evaluation of Cerha is a well-known one going back
to the 18th century: only if the composer manages to find the right balance
23 “Fast nie hört man Musik von Frauen in den Opern und Konzerthäusern zu Unrecht:
die deutsche Cellistin Raphaela Gromes hat Komponistinnen aufgestöbert, die seit
Jahrhunderten vernachlässigt wurden. Ihr Album beweist, wie viele Frauen kompo-
niert haben und vor allem: wie gut deren Musik ist.” Cf. Wilhelm Sinkovicz, “Die
vergessenen Komponistinnen,” Die Presse am Sonntag, February 12, 2023, 42–3.
24 “Tatsächlich hatte Cerha mit diesem Coup den Musikfreunden die Ohren geöffnet.
Die sogenannte Neue Musik hatte ihr Bedrohungspotential verloren, Hinfort verfolgte
man wieder mit Interesse, was die Komponisten an Novitäten anzubieten hatten. [...]
Cerha war es gelungen, den Hörern zu vermitteln, seine immer hochkomplexen Wer-
ke seien ja doch vergleichsweise ‘einfach’ zu entschlüsseln.” Cf. Wilhelm Sinkovicz,
“Friedrich Cerha: Wiener Avantgarde-Urgründe,” Die Presse, February 15, 2023, 17.
46
