Music criticism
Encyclopedia
See also Music journalism
for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.
The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this sense it is a branch of musical aesthetics. With the concurrent expansion of interest in music and information media over the past century, the term has come to acquire the conventional meaning of journalistic reporting on musical performances.
(see music journalism
).
's Laws and in the writings of medieval music theorists. The English composer Charles Avison
(1709–1770) published the first work on musical criticism in the English language - an Essay on Musical Expression published in 1752. In it, Avison criticized the music of one of his contemporaries, George Frideric Handel
.
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.
The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this sense it is a branch of musical aesthetics. With the concurrent expansion of interest in music and information media over the past century, the term has come to acquire the conventional meaning of journalistic reporting on musical performances.
(see music journalism
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
).
History
Critical references to music, (often deprecating performers or styles) can be found in early literature, including, for example, in PlatoPlato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's Laws and in the writings of medieval music theorists. The English composer Charles Avison
Charles Avison
Charles Avison – 10 May 1770) was an English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St. Nicholas's Church...
(1709–1770) published the first work on musical criticism in the English language - an Essay on Musical Expression published in 1752. In it, Avison criticized the music of one of his contemporaries, George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
.
Sources
- Bojan Bujic, Criticism of Music in The Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Music Online.