There have been many junctures in my life when I have entertained the thought of becoming a composer. Creating music is to me like speaking, so much so that I consider it my first language. There is always difficulty in selecting words to speak, but rarely difficulty in understanding the next note to place on the page. But the judgment of music is, and has always been, harsh and fickle, and infuriating even. It is difficult to resist taking criticism of one’s own music very personally, because there is nothing more personal an expression to the composer than his or her music. It’s easy to forget that the “classics” of today were the “pop” of yesteryear, and composers faced equally critical opposition, especially to more unorthodox ventures during early careers.
Below, I have compiled several quotations and anecdotes about works of classical music. I challenge you to match them to the pieces of music to which they pertain. None of these pertain to works of contemporary/atonal music – one needs only look to Youtube to see endless criticism of modern music.
1. “I played the first movement. Not a single word, not a single remark! If you knew how stupid and intolerable is the situation of a man who cooks and sets before a friend a meal, which he proceeds to eat in silence! Oh, for one word, for friendly attack, but for God’s sake one word of sympathy, even if not of praise. [R] was amassing his storm, and [H] was waiting to see what would happen, and that there would be a reason for joining one side or the other. Above all I did not want sentence on the artistic aspect. My need was for remarks about the virtuoso piano techinque. [R]’s eloquent silence was of the greatest significance. He seemed to be saying: “My friend, how can I speak of detail when the whole thing is antipathetic? I fortified myself with patience and played through to the end. Still silence. I stood up and asked, “Well?” Then a torrent poured from [NG]’s mouth, gentle at first, then more and more growing into the sound of a Jupiter Tonana. It turned out that my [piece] was worthless and unplayable; passages were so fragmented, so clumsy, so badly written that they were beyond rescue; the work itself was bad, vulgar; in places I had stolen from other composers; only two or three pages were worth preserving; the rest must be thrown away or completely rewritten.” -Composer 1
2. “I am only experimenting and finding my way. All the same, the hissing was a bit much.” – Composer 2. Review of the same piece: “perfectly unorthodox, banal and horrid”
3. “While it is [I]’s complete right not to accept a work he finds unsuitable, I ask myself if the composer who has given four months’ time entirely to this work, and who has done his best in submitting a work for which he makes absolutely no apology – should not be paid something. I believe this is generally the case when a commissioned work is not accepted by the commissioner.” – Composer 3.
4. “If there were a Conservatory in Hell, [Composer 4] would certainly gain first prize for [this piece], so devilish are the discords he has dished up before us.” – [C]
5. “The judgement of the critics is unanimous; certain beauty is conceded, but they find that the construction is weak, and that unending repetition of certain uninteresting places might easily cause fatigue.” – [WT]
1 – Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb minor (the most famous one)
2 – Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1 in d minor
3 – Barber, Violin Concerto
4 – Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 1
5 – Beethoven, Violin Concerto
Sources: Wiki (+others to cross-reference), All Music Guide to Classical Music, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (Lawrence Sommers, 1934)
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