A compilation of excerpts from really poisonous reviews of classical music from Beethoven up till about the 1950s. I came across an old hardback copy in the Sydney City Library years ago, didn't think I'd ever find my own, but it's back in print now.
Slonimski was a conductor and promoter of new music - one of his Varèse concerts is a featured target - so the book's polemical intent is obvious: "Your great-grandfather thought Wagner was unmusical cacophony, so be careful what you say about the stuff I'm pushing."
The real pleasure for me was discovering just how aggressive music critics could be in the 19th century. Wagner and Brahms in particular seem to have driven critics into a spittle-flecked frenzy. I'm also fond of the topical index at the back, with entries like "Cat (amorous)", "Chaos", "Sexuality (sticky, frog-like)" etc.
Probably my favourite classical music book. I wonder if anyone's ever done the same thing for criticism in other genres?
― scriblerus (mike lynch), Thursday, 26 October 2006 01:31 (seventeen years ago) link
fourteen years pass...