B. H. Haggin
Encyclopedia
Bernard H. Haggin better known as B.H. Haggin, was an American music
critic
.
, he graduated from Juilliard School
in 1920, where he studied piano
.He published his first article in 1923. His career as a journalist commenced shortly thereafter as a contributor to The New Republic
.
.
Haggin was a staunch but not entirely uncritical admirer of the conductor
Arturo Toscanini
, whom he befriended. He was the first major American critic to recognize choreographer George Balanchine. In the 1930s Haggin launched the career of the future record producer, John Hammond, hiring him as a reviewer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Haggin wrote twelve books on music and two on ballet
. He was the author of the first general guide to recorded classical music Music on Records (1938), later expanded as The Listener's Musical Companion (1956), which Haggin regularly updated in new editions until 1978. Haggin's best-known titles are about Toscanini: Conversations with Toscanini (1959), a personal reminiscence, and the closest that anyone has ever published to a series of interviews with the publicity-shy Toscanini, and The Toscanini Musicians Knew (1967), a series of interviews with musicians who played in orchestras or sang with the Italian conductor. The two volumes were republished in 1989 as Arturo Toscanini, Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro. Haggin was one of the few critics who became a personal friend of the conductor, and was therefore allowed unprecedented access to him.
Haggin's books on Toscanini were deliberately written as a corrective to what Haggin felt were misinformed opinions and misrepresented facts about Toscanini which were beginning to circulate at that time.
As a critic, Haggin was trenchant, imperious, and meticulous, having little patience for mediocre music, musicians, or fellow critics. He engendered enmity by criticizing RCA Victor for issuing badly-recorded or badly-mixed recordings of Toscanini and "enhancing" them with added resonance and artificial stereo sound. He was strongly critical of the interpretive style of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
, who at the time was considered Toscanini's polar opposite and greatest rival. He was not ashamed to make value judgments about composers and works that offended some readers and endeared him to others. He wrote of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony that it was "an inflated monstrosity of straining, portentous banality." He also made some of his most passionate judgements in a position of "meta-criticism," sometimes spending more column inches in criticizing his fellow critics' opinions than in making his own.
In his later years he wrote for The Hudson Review
, The New Republic
, Musical America
and The Yale Review
.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
.
Early life
A lifelong inhabitant of New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he graduated from Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in 1920, where he studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.He published his first article in 1923. His career as a journalist commenced shortly thereafter as a contributor to The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
.
Career
From 1936 to 1957 he was the music critic of The Nation. He was music critic of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1934 to 1937. From 1946 to 1949, he wrote a column about music on the radio for The New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
.
Haggin was a staunch but not entirely uncritical admirer of the conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
, whom he befriended. He was the first major American critic to recognize choreographer George Balanchine. In the 1930s Haggin launched the career of the future record producer, John Hammond, hiring him as a reviewer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Haggin wrote twelve books on music and two on ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. He was the author of the first general guide to recorded classical music Music on Records (1938), later expanded as The Listener's Musical Companion (1956), which Haggin regularly updated in new editions until 1978. Haggin's best-known titles are about Toscanini: Conversations with Toscanini (1959), a personal reminiscence, and the closest that anyone has ever published to a series of interviews with the publicity-shy Toscanini, and The Toscanini Musicians Knew (1967), a series of interviews with musicians who played in orchestras or sang with the Italian conductor. The two volumes were republished in 1989 as Arturo Toscanini, Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro. Haggin was one of the few critics who became a personal friend of the conductor, and was therefore allowed unprecedented access to him.
Haggin's books on Toscanini were deliberately written as a corrective to what Haggin felt were misinformed opinions and misrepresented facts about Toscanini which were beginning to circulate at that time.
As a critic, Haggin was trenchant, imperious, and meticulous, having little patience for mediocre music, musicians, or fellow critics. He engendered enmity by criticizing RCA Victor for issuing badly-recorded or badly-mixed recordings of Toscanini and "enhancing" them with added resonance and artificial stereo sound. He was strongly critical of the interpretive style of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
, who at the time was considered Toscanini's polar opposite and greatest rival. He was not ashamed to make value judgments about composers and works that offended some readers and endeared him to others. He wrote of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony that it was "an inflated monstrosity of straining, portentous banality." He also made some of his most passionate judgements in a position of "meta-criticism," sometimes spending more column inches in criticizing his fellow critics' opinions than in making his own.
In his later years he wrote for The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. It was founded in 1947 in New York by William Ayers Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1948...
, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Musical America
Musical America
Musical America is the oldest American magazine on classical music. Presently it is a website with a weekly online magazine. It is currently published by UBM Global Trade.-History:...
and The Yale Review
The Yale Review
The Yale Review is the self-proclaimed oldest literary quarterly in the United States. It is published by Yale University.It was founded originally in 1819 as The Christian Spectator. At its origin it was published to support Evangelicalism, but over time began to publish more on history and...
.
See further
- Arturo Toscanini, Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro, ISBN 0-306-80356-9
External links
- Obituary, - 42k
- Review of "Music for the Man Who Enjoys Hamlet," http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801574,00.html