Music criticism and journalism course

it is used for criticism and music journalism...

...but so is it a sort of musicology combined with journalism? I mean, the role of the critic (maybe I'm wrong) in what terms does it intervene? Technical, aesthetic, or what?

I ask because, for example, a strong qualification is needed to nitpick technically an interpreter or a composer and, at an aesthetic level, by definition, criticism cannot exist... at least in 2014. Everyone is free to express themselves however and whenever they please... of course, consistency is fundamental, but it has the flavor of technique and not aesthetics...

... so what? Am I missing something?

I always have the impression that you want to start from one specific thing and then overgeneralize.

Let's take it one step at a time...

1) In an ideal world, everyone knows everything. Therefore, studying quantum physics would also be useful for street sweepers. But, in the real world, studying music criticism and music journalism is useful for those who want to be a music critic and a music journalist.

2) Asking what music criticism is is a question of goat's wool [a nonsensical/vague question]. It is so complex to answer that I suggest another question directly: who are music critics? Well, music critics are those people who write reviews (of CDs and concerts) and musical articles in specialized newspapers and magazines. Everyone does it differently, and every magazine/newspaper does it differently.

3) The course you are talking about is organized by the faculty of musicology together with the Mozart Festival of Rovereto. I attended it; it is organized as a series of lectures and seminars with journalists, critics, and professors. There are criticism workshops, i.e., written tests that are "graded" by the professors. They change from year to year, so I couldn't tell you much more.

4) Regarding the fact that criticism in 2014 does not exist or cannot exist... ... there are many specialized magazines and many "generalist" newspapers that publish music criticism and articles every day. All over the world. So, well, you are wrong

thallo wrote:

4) regarding the fact that criticism in 2014 does not exist or cannot exist... ... there are many specialized magazines and many "generalist" newspapers publish musical criticism and articles every day. All over the world. So, well, you are wrong

...and what do they write in reviews? That a piece is more or less valid based on one's own taste? Doing it is one thing, whether it is useful or indispensable is another. The world is also full of "opinionists"... there are those who think it is even a profession.

Rotore, I consider many of your interventions absolutely useless, but you continue to write them, believing in them. And my opinion will not change the fact that you write.

Adapt this thing to your thoughts toward critics. Your opinion will not change the fact that there are thousands of music critics in the world.

In fact, I find articles from specialized magazines very useful...

thallo wrote:

there are many specialized magazines and many "generalist" newspapers publish musical reviews and articles every day.

You might be right, Thallo... I don't regularly buy specialized magazines, but I don't see them in "generalist" newspapers either. Either they escape me or they have escaped me.

Just these past few days, in addition to appreciable biographical and human accounts, I would have very gladly read a couple of lines of criticism regarding Abbado if they had been musical in nature, regardless of whether I agreed with the judgment or not. Obviously, I don't buy all the national press... if I missed something good, even better... and worse for me.

A music criticism article is useful (to me, it is useful). Even when I do not agree with it. It helps to stay alert. It stimulates reflection.

I would have very gladly read even two lines of criticism if they had been from a musical perspective regarding Abbado, regardless of whether or not I agreed with the judgment.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/jan/20/claudio-abbado-best-recordings

I repeat what I have already written, there is no methodology of criticism; everyone does it as they believe, as they want, or as required by their publication. It is certainly easier to talk about a specific event, a concert, or a CD. But when I place the terms "music criticism" and "music journalism" side by side, I do not do so randomly. There can be different starting points and different end points. A music critic who "criticizes" a performance does a good job. A music critic who "describes" a performance does a good job. A music critic who talks about why that theater, in financial distress, hired such-and-such an artist, spending this and that, while neglecting to talk about the performance, does a good job. Everything changes depending on the situation. And I say this precisely because in that course, a few years ago, some of my musicology colleagues and I went armed with the sacred fire of technical knowledge and discovered that writing an article is a complicated thing. Those who spoke about the ladies' hats in the audience wrote readable articles; those who spoke about the critical edition upon which the concert was based made people want to slit their wrists.

In my opinion, what is missing today is a critical eye toward criticism. What do I mean by this useless circumlocution? That we are bombarded with information, more or less referenced articles... but the whole thing does not represent culture.

Therefore, to understand if what we read is reliable/plausible/credible, apart from having developed one's own critical sense, one must turn to good books.

I believe that zapping through the internet or various magazines is of no use, or rather, they are welcome if we are able to understand the degree of reliability/trustworthiness of what we read. Therefore, using filters and a critical sense that we must form—or rather, that schools should form.

Personally, I have studied many essays/articles (but also books, obviously), even well-made old LP "covers," having gained great benefits and collecting beautiful testimonies... without losing my mind in the process. Most of the time I have taken something away from it, even if it was a different point of view... A point of view. It's not that the coin has only one side, you know!?