Customer Reviews

How to Become a Musical Critic (Da Capo Press music reprint series)

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The facetiously titled "How to Become a Musical Critic" does not actually have any instructional purpose; it is a collection of Shaw's music criticism from the 1870s to 1950. As such this book presents a fascinating glimpse into musical and performance culture over that incredibly long span of years. It also provides an interesting perspective on a little-known aspect of Shaw's literary output: his music writing, which served as his entry point into journalism.

The introduction to my edition, written by Dan H. Laurence, explains that Shaw's skill as a critic was based on an "extraordinary musical knowledge," the result of "exposure to music almost from infancy." This mastery of the technical aspects of music is manifestly apparent throughout the book, as is Shaw's trademark wit and contrarianism.

The book ranges too widely over too many topics -- ranging from composers, to conductors, vocalists, trends in instrument technology, and beyond -- to suggest any theme or prevailing argument in Shaw's criticism, but a few highlights can be noted. First is his advocacy of the music of Mozart, who had died just a century ago, and whose music was largely unplayed in Britain, when Shaw was writing in the 1890s. Second is his adamant praise for Edward Elgar after World War One, when his music had fallen out of fashion. Shaw writes in 1920: "If I were king, or Minister of Fine Arts, I would give Elgar an annuity of five thousand dollars a year on condition that he produce a symphony every 18 months." Unfortunately this proposal was never enacted.