Music criticism

See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.

The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this sense it is a branch of musical aesthetics. With the concurrent expansion of interest in music and information media over the past century, the term has come to acquire the conventional meaning of journalistic reporting on musical performances. (see music journalism).

History

Critical references to music, (often deprecating performers or styles) can be found in early literature, including, for example, in Plato's Laws and in the writings of medieval music theorists. The English composer Charles Avison (1709–1770) published the first work on musical criticism in the English language - an Essay on Musical Expression published in 1752. In it, Avison criticized the music of one of his contemporaries, George Frideric Handel.

See also

• Music journalism

Sources

• Bojan Bujic, Criticism of Music in The Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Music Online.