Micro Music Laboratories
Micro Music Laboratories
Ethnic Music

Home

Site Map

Editorial

ETHNIC MUSIC

The Science of Music

The Scope of the
Science of Music

The Inner Breath of Music

The Function of the
Inner Breath in Music

The Scientific Aspect
in Music

The Perfect Musical
Description

The Twofold System
of Music Analysis
of the Composer

The Aspect of
Humanities in Music

The True Field of
Science in Music

The Sociology of Music

The Ecology of Music

The Physics of Music

The Physiology of Music

The Economy of Music

Music Critique

Dance in Music

 

Peter Huebner
Founder of the
Micro Music Laboratories

MAIN LINKS

 






  The Science of Music
       
 
Music Critique


   
 
Music critique is the critical strife for the knowledge hidden in music.

   
 
The purpose of music critique is to awaken, or to deepen, the interest of the reader for a particular piece of music, or to keep the general interest for music alive in the population.

 
The Purpose of Music Critique
 
 
As a means of its critical investigation music critique employs the word in its spoken or written form. The obstacle, which music critique therefore imposes upon itself, is the fact that the sounding musical event, or even the music itself, can only vaguely be described by the words of our colloquial language, but cannot possibly be represented satisfactorily.

 
Means of the Music Critique
 
 
Through the meaning of words, the competent music critic can at least draw the music listener's attention to certain elements of a musical work and, thereby, to some extent stimulate the listener's musical-analytical thinking, thus facilitating his access to the musical truth.

 
Stimulating the Musical-Analytical Thinking
 
 
Good music critique describes the inner world of the musical sound-space with words in a clear and very sensitive manner - be it regarding a piece of music in general, or the success of a specific musical performance.

 
Good Music Critique
 
 
Music critique, therefore, demands a high degree of self-discipline from the critic himself; because a music critic not only must have an outstanding music-professional qualification, but also a completely neutral human attitude towards what he describes - because any sort of emotional outburst, be it positive or negative, is far from the true understanding of music.

 
Requirements for the Music Critic
 
 
“One shall speak the truth and
thereby not waste words.”

Demokrit


   
 
In the genuine comprehension and discussion of music, feeling and understanding are so highly coordinated and harmonically interwoven that any assessment which is exclusively dominated by the understanding, but also any statement overcharged with emotions, cannot but lead the reader away from the essence of music.

 
The Basis of Successful Music Critique
 
 
Successful music critique always has its basis in the deep love of music on the part of the music critic himself - in his profound understanding of music, in his clear knowledge about the process of creating music, and furthermore in his practice-related expertise on the possibilities of how to realize musical ideas.

   
 
“Without fantasy no art and, indeed,
not even science,
and consequently also no critique.”

Franz Liszt


   
     
     
                                 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                     
                                     
  With kind permission of AAR EDITION INTERNATIONAL
© 1998 –  MICRO MUSIC LABORATORIES



 
.