Leonard Bernstein, the great American music man, once remarked “I’ve been all over the world and I’ve never seen a statue of a critic.” Of course, statues of critics exist, but only of those who critiqued music as a secondary calling. Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Thomas Mann are among the most notable, but were primarily creators. It is arguable that only those who have composed, written, or performed themselves are qualified, or entitled, to pass judgement on their fellows.
No monuments were raised to the wealthy intellectual Eduard Hanslick, who neither composed nor performed. However, he was one of the most powerful critics in 19th-century Vienna and said terrible things about Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, and Wagner. No questions were asked about his license to assess or dismiss these geniuses.
