# Questionable vocabulary in music criticism.



## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

I'm against censorship. But certain words seem annoying! How do others feel about the current vocabulary of music criticism?


authentic
to privilege _(verb)_
iconic 
derivative
crucial


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

definitive
legendary


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

influential.........


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

As a fan of modern music, I'm annoyed by the very ironic use of the words "pretentious" and "snobby" to refer to music which is abnormal that one dislikes. If there's evidence that the artist had a pretentious, snobby attitude, that would be one thing, but people don't use the words properly. There are "normal" composers who are known to be pretentious, like Wagner, but it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the music.


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2018)

Fredx2098 said:


> As a fan of modern music, I'm annoyed by the very ironic use of the words "pretentious" and "snobby" to refer to music which is abnormal that one dislikes. If there's evidence that the artist had a pretentious, snobby attitude, that would be one thing, but people don't use the words properly. There are "normal" composers who are known to be pretentious, like Wagner, but it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the music.


I read some reviews like this around the US premiere of Wuorinen's opera _Brokeback Mountain_ which really puzzled me. If anything, it only shows snobbery on the reviewer's part.

Honestly, there are many composers of contemporary music (and older 'contemporary' music from the 20th century) who have said really pretentious/snobby things, including Wuorinen (Rochberg, Babbitt, Higdon, Reich and maybe Stockhausen to a lesser extent also spring to mind) but unless they use that position to argue or justify their style and aesthetic and/or put down the works of other composers then I don't really take it as much of an issue.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Roger Knox said:


> I'm against censorship. But certain words seem annoying! How do others feel about the current vocabulary of music criticism?
> 
> 
> authentic
> ...


It depends what context a writer uses these words, and the quality of the writing overall. I'm also against censorship or too much political correctness if you like creeping in to this area. I'd rather have a critic say it as he or she thinks it is, rather than presenting an argument lacking in basic logic and filled with subterfuge and intellectual point scoring.

I don't envy a critic's job, because a good critic (or writer on music) fulfils many roles, from presenting insider knowledge to a broader audience, to educating about many aspects of music (from broad to specific), to discussing various opinions and then giving reasons for his or her conclusion on sometimes heavily disputed topics.

In terms of specific vocabulary though, I'm with you on authentic and also add idiomatic. These might be a fancy way of saying that a piece has been performed more or less how a composer would have wanted it, but of course that's very hard to tell the farther back you go in the long history of classical music. In any case, it doesn't have to matter. Look at how many ways Bach has been performed, and even the man himself made arrangement of his own (and others') works that speaks more to practicality and variety than any sense of authenticity or whatever. Every generation changes the way music is performed.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

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