Critics were sometimes reactionary, boneheaded, and cockamamie, but music mattered to them. If we no longer enjoy the uproars and the withering screeds of yesteryear, it's mainly because people no longer care passionately enough about what they hear in the concert hall to want to murder somebody over it.
Obviously the author doesn't read much contemporary poetry criticism, where the art of wanting to (verbally) murder is alive and well. On the other hand, probably better that he doesn't, as it's usually much ado about nothing.
Critics were sometimes reactionary, boneheaded, and cockamamie, but music mattered to them. If we no longer enjoy the uproars and the withering screeds of yesteryear, it's mainly because people no longer care passionately enough about what they hear in the concert hall to want to murder somebody over it.
ReplyDeleteObviously the author doesn't read much contemporary poetry criticism, where the art of wanting to (verbally) murder is alive and well. On the other hand, probably better that he doesn't, as it's usually much ado about nothing.