British Musical Criticism and Intellectual Thought, 1850-1950 (Music in Britain, 1600-2000, 19)

This collection provides an in-depth look at musical criticism between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century. British music between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century reflected changes and developments in society, education, philosophy, aesthetics, politics and the upheaval of wars, often signifying a distinctively British national history. All of these changes informed the published work of contemporary music critics. This collection provides an in-depth look at musical criticism during this period. It focusses on major figures such as Grove,Parry, Shaw, Dent, Newman, Heseltine, Vaughan Williams, Dyson, Lambert and Keller, yet does not neglect less influential but nevertheless significant critics. Sometimes a seminal work forms the subject of investigation; in otherchapters, a writer's particular stance is highlighted. Further contributions closely analyse the now famous polemics by Shaw, Heseltine and Lambert. The book covers a range of themes from the historical, scientific and philosophical to matters of repertoire, taste, interdisciplinary influence, musical democratisation and analysis. It will be of interest to scholars and students of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British music and music in Britain as well as to music enthusiasts attracted to standard works of popular music criticism. JEREMY DIBBLE is Professor of Music at Durham University. JULIAN HORTON is Professor of Music at Durham University. Contributors: KAREN ARRANDALE, SEAMAS DE BARRA, PHILIP ROSS BULLOCK, JONATHAN CLINCH, SARAH COLLINS, JEREMY DIBBLE, JULIAN HORTON, PETER HORTON, CHRISTOPHER MARK, AIDAN J. THOMSON, PAUL WATT, HARRY WHITE, BENNETT ZON, PATRICKZUK British music between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century reflected changes and developments in society, education, philosophy, aesthetics, politics and the upheaval of wars, often signifying a distinctively British national history. All of these changes informed the published work of contemporary music critics. This collection provides an in-depth look at musical criticism during this period. It focusses on major figures such as Grove, Parry, Shaw, Dent, Newman, Heseltine, Vaughan Williams, Dyson, Lambert and Keller, yet does not neglect less influential but nevertheless significant critics. Sometimes a seminal work forms the subject of investigation; in other chapters, a writer's particular stance is highlighted. Further contributions closely analyse the now famous polemics by Shaw, Heseltine and Lambert. The book covers a range of themes from the historical, scientific and philosophical to matters of repertoire, taste, interdisciplinary influence, musical democratisation and analysis. It will be of interest to scholars and students of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British music and music in Britain as well as to music enthusiasts attracted to standard works of popular music criticism. JEREMY DIBBLE is Professor of Music at Durham University. JULIAN HORTON is Professor of Music at Durham University. Contributors: KAREN ARRANDALE, SEAMAS DE BARRA, PHILIP ROSS BULLOCK, JONATHAN CLINCH, SARAH COLLINS, JEREMY DIBBLE, JULIAN HORTON, PETER HORTON, CHRISTOPHER MARK, AIDAN J. THOMSON, PAUL WATT, HARRY WHITE, BENNETT ZON, PATRICK ZUK Frontcover Contents List of Illustrations List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Trends in British Musical Thought, 1850–1950 1 Avoiding ‘Coarse Invective’ and ‘Unseemly Vehemence’: English Music Criticism, 1850–1870 2 Spencer, Sympathy and the Oxford School of Music Criticism 3 Free Thought and the Musician: Ernest Walker, the ‘English Hanslick’ 4 Ernest Newman and the Promise of Method in Biography, Criticism and History 5 ‘Making Symphony Articulate’: Bernard Shaw’s Sense of Music History 6 Analysis and Value Judgement: Schumann, Bruckner and Tovey’s Essays in Musical Analysis 7 The Scholar as Critic: Edward J. Dent 8 Russia and Eastern Europe 9 Anti-Intellectualism and the Rhetoric of ‘National Character’ in Music: The Vulgarity of Over-Refinement 10 Chosen Causes: Writings on Music by Bernard van Dieren, Peter Warlock and Cecil Gray 11 ‘Es klang so alt und war doch so neu’: Vaughan Williams, Aesthetics and History 12 Constant Lambert: A Critic for Today? A Commentary on Music Ho! 13 The Challenge to Goodwill: Herbert Howells, Alban Berg and ‘The Modern Problem’ 14 Hans Keller: The Making of an ‘Anti-Critic’ Select Bibliography Index