Customer Reviews

Maestros Of The Pen: A History of Classical Music Criticism in America

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If, like myself, your opinion of music critics has ranged somewhere between tolerance and contempt, prepare for a delightful awakening. In this survey, Mark Grant proves that critics are not only sensitive, dedicated intellectuals -- they are actually human. Grant makes his point via anecdotes, sketches and quotes that bring his cast of personalities to life. And what personalities! From the super-curmudgeon, H.L. Mencken, to the super-artist, Virgil Thompson, you'll meet an array of scholars and scoundrels who, whether you like it or not, helped to shape your tastes. You'll discover that their ranks included not only professionals, like Deems Taylor and Olin Downes, but such unlikely "amateurs" as Emerson, Whitman and Howells. You'll also discover Mark Grant, himself a composer and musicologist, through whose readable, unpatronizing style we share a love for his art and for those sometimes-noble, sometimes-naughty music critics.

I highly recommend Mark Grant's Maestros Of The Pen to all lovers of classical music as well as to performers, composers and followers of the American cultural scene, past and present. When I picked up the book, I was expecting to wade through a dry but informative academic tome; instead, I found myself being swept along by Grant's witty verbal virtuosity applied to a surprisingly fascinating subject . In addition to his concise historic synthesis of the critics and their aesthetic, Grant's endeavor also features a consistently stimulating subtext, juxtaposing the "then" and the "now". By reaching backward and forward in time, Grant personalizes his research and gives his work a tremendous contemporary resonance.

Grant's book is an interesting, well-written read. He flexes the muscles of his vocabulary - I suggest reading along with a pocket dictionary, as I guarantee he'll throw in some $5000 words that common parlance does not normally encounter. That aside, the book is a fascinating account of music criticism in America - worthwhile for scholars in both music and journalism!