Hanslick and Thomson, critics at large

Synopsis

Today we take the unusual step of honoring that frequent bane of composers, the music critic. Specifically, Eduard Hanslick, born on this date in Prague, in 1825. He’s remembered today as the arch-conservative 19th century critic who once said an uncut performance of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” would be, quote, “a kind of murder committed upon singers and listeners alike.”

Wagner had his revenge in “Die Meistersinger,” where the Philistine critic Beckmesser is a thinly-disguised parody of Hanslick. Reviewing “Die Meistersinger,” Hanslick wrote that in that opera’s Overture “all the opera’s themes are dumped consecutively into a chromatic flood and finally tossed about in a kind of tonal typhoon.”

A famous and equally quotable 20th century music critic was the late Virgil Thomson, who once defined a music critic as a person “who seldom kisses, but always tells.” In his years as chief music critic of the New York Herald Tribune, his barbs were often as sharp as Hanslick’s. He called Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” “fake folklore,” with “fidgety accompaniments.”

Like all music critics, Virgil Thomson called some right — and others wrong. Unlike most critics, though, Thomson was a composer himself — so, in addition to his witty reviews, there’s his genial music to enjoy as well, such as this brass suite titled “Family Portrait.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Act III excerpts, from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Deutschen Oper Berlin Orchestra; Eugen Jochum, cond. DG 415 281

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) Digging (A Portrait of Howard Rea) London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble; Christopher Larkin, cond. Hyperion 66517

On This Day

Births

• 1711 - Baptismal date of British composer William Boyce, in London;

• 1786 - German-born Danish pianist and composer Friedrich Kuhlau, in Ülzen (near Hanover);

• 1825 - Conservative Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick, in Prague;

• 1935 - Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, in Paide;

Deaths

• 1733 - French harpsichordist and composer François Couperin ("le Grand"), age 64, in Paris;

• 1949 - French composer Henri Rabaud, age 76, in Paris;

• 1985 - English composer William Alwyn, age 79, in Southwold;

Premieres

• 1887 - Dvorák: Mass in D, Op. 86, at a private performance in Luzany;

• 1924 - Gershwin: musical "Primrose," at the Winter Garden Theater in London;

• 1936 - Kodály: "Te Deum," in Budapest;

• 1951 - Stravinsky: opera, "The Rake's Progress," in Venice at the Teatro della Fenice, conducted by the composer; According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade;

• 1971 - Barber: "Fadograph from a Yestern Scene" (the title is a line from James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake"), by the Pittsburgh Symphony, at the opening concert in Heinz Hall;

• 1986 - Harbison: "Remembering Gatsby" for orchestra, in Atlanta, with the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Shaw conducting; This music became the prelude to Harbison's 1999 opera, "The Great Gatsby";

Others

• 1840 - German composer Robert Schumann gives his fiancée, Clara Wieck, his new song-cycle "Liederkreis," as a gift on the eve of their wedding;

• 1850 - Swedish soprano Jenny Lind makes her American debut at the Castle Garden Theatre in New York City, inaugurating a 93-stop American tour arranged by showman and entertainment entrepreneur Phineas "P.T." Barnum;

• 1950 - At a Decca recording session in New York City; Leroy Anderson conducts the premiere performance of his piece entitled "The Waltzing Cat" and also commits to disc six more of his most popular compositions: "Jazz Pizzicato" and "Jazz Legato" (both composed in 1938), "A Trumpeter's Lullaby" and "The Syncopated Clock" (both composed in 1945), and two of his pieces that had premiered at 1947 and 1948 Boston Pops concerts: "Serenata" (Arthur Fiedler's favorite Leroy Anderson composition) and "Sleigh Ride" (which was actually composed in July!); Anderson had conducted the premiere of "Jazz Pizzicato" (his first composition) at a 1938 Boston Pops concert, and "Jazz Legato" was written at the request of Arthur Fiedler as a companion piece for the second side of a 78-rpm recording of "Jazz Pizzicato"; "A Trumpeter's Lullaby" was written at the request of Roger Voison, principal trumpet of the Boston Pops, and "The Syncopated Clock" was popularized when it was used for 25 years as the theme music for "The Late Show" on WCBS-TV in New York City;

• 1962 - At their third recording session at London's Abbey Road studios, The Beatles record one of their early hit songs: "Love me, do!"