The Gramophone
Encyclopedia
Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London
by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz
, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie
. The magazine presents the Gramophone Award
s each year to the classical recordings which it considers the finest in a variety of categories.
In the title bar of its website, as of January 2007, Gramophone claims to be: "The world's best classical music magazine." This boast used to appear on the front cover of every issue, although recent editions have changed the wording to "The world's unrivalled authority on classical music since 1923." Its international readership appears to have been challenged by BBC Music Magazine
.
towards British composers and performers, an alleged preference for bland, middle-of-the-road performances, and its close commercial relationship with big recording companies such as EMI
. Similar criticisms are also directed at the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, which is written by a trio of longtime reviewers for Gramophone. A separate strand of criticism, consistently voiced in the forum on its website, is that its reviews have become shorter, and often fail to make comparisons with other published performances.
wrote a parody review in the style of Gramophone for the liner notes to his 1968 recording of Beethoven
's Fifth Symphony
transcribed for solo piano by Liszt
. The review, which purports to be from "the English magazine The Phonograph" includes this passage:
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...
. The magazine presents the Gramophone Award
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
s each year to the classical recordings which it considers the finest in a variety of categories.
In the title bar of its website, as of January 2007, Gramophone claims to be: "The world's best classical music magazine." This boast used to appear on the front cover of every issue, although recent editions have changed the wording to "The world's unrivalled authority on classical music since 1923." Its international readership appears to have been challenged by BBC Music Magazine
BBC music magazine
BBC Music Magazine is a magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Reflecting the broadcast output of BBC Radio 3, the magazine is devoted primarily to classical music, though with sections on jazz and world music. Each edition comes...
.
Jazz
Since 1925, the magazine also reviews jazz recordings and publishes The Gramophone Jazz Good CD Guide.Criticism
Gramophone is often the subject of criticism. The most common grounds for criticism are a perceived biasBias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
towards British composers and performers, an alleged preference for bland, middle-of-the-road performances, and its close commercial relationship with big recording companies such as EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. Similar criticisms are also directed at the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, which is written by a trio of longtime reviewers for Gramophone. A separate strand of criticism, consistently voiced in the forum on its website, is that its reviews have become shorter, and often fail to make comparisons with other published performances.
Parody
Glenn GouldGlenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
wrote a parody review in the style of Gramophone for the liner notes to his 1968 recording of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Fifth Symphony
Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
transcribed for solo piano by Liszt
Liszt
Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...
. The review, which purports to be from "the English magazine The Phonograph" includes this passage:
Unusual recordings of the Beethoven Fifth are, of course, no novelty to the British collector. One calls to mind that elegiac statement Sir Joshua committed to the gramophone in his last years as well as that splendidly spirited rendition transcribed under actual concert conditions by the Newcastle-on-Tyne Light Orchestra upon the occasion of the inadvertent air-alarm of 27 August 1939 [...] The entire undertaking smacks of that incorrigible American pre-occupation with exuberant gesture and is quite lacking in those qualities of autumnal repose which a carefully judged interpretation of this work should offer.
External links
- Official website
- Gramophone Archive (1923 – present)