Greg Sandow is teaching a music criticism class at Juilliard this semester and has generously shared not only his views on what makes good criticism but also his syllabus which contains some endlessly fascinating pieces from historical music critics like George Bernard Shaw and Virgil Thompson! I love Greg’s take on how good music criticism starts with an objective description of the music and then moves to the subjective. 

What struck me is how important it is for all musicians to talk about music in a way that it is both intelligent and intelligible. When musicians can talk about the music they are making, they both demystify the music and translate their passion for it, thereby compelling us to see why  music is so vitally important. This is a key to audience engagement which is increasingly being seen as critical to the survival of classical music in the 21st Century.  Hence, the successful music entrepreneur of the 21st Century needs to know how to talk about music in a way that will engage and excite audiences.

I go to a lot of concerts and always appreciate when musicians talk about their work.  In my experience, these talks often provide one but not both of these elements of objectivity and subjectivity. This got me thinking about a wonderful concert I attended earlier this summer at a new music festival.  There were two premieres on the program and each composer spoke about his work.   The first composer gave us a steely, in-depth analysis of the piece that would have been perfectly fine in a graduate level music theory class but was lost on most of the audience. That was the 
“0bjective” speech.  The “subjective” speech came from the other young composer who—adorable as he was—rambled on about hanging out in a bar with his buddies and then going home to write the music. In neither case, did the audience come away with a complete understanding of what made the music tick and why we as audience members should pay attention.

My sense that musicians who do step out of the box and talk about their work sometimes forget who the audience is.  Before addressing an audience, the performer or composer should give some thought to who is the audience and why they are at this particular performance.

  • Does the audience consist primarily children or young people who are being exposed to music for the first time?
  • Are they sophisticated music lovers who show up at concerts with scores or libretti in hand?
  • Perhaps they are people who are curious about music and are eager to learn more?

So my advice to musicians who are eager to engage their audiences is this:  You need to think about whom you are addressing before launching into a complex analysis of the music’ structure and harmony.   Music is infinitely complex and fascinating.  Composers and performers have the benefit of having thought about these complexities as they master the piece for a performance.  The trick is then to describe the music in such a way that the audience will get the point. 

That’s the objective side.

The subjective side is where the performer gets a chance to share why he or she loves this work.  Audiences want to know this.  It’s where the passion can come through and hook someone into listening to the performance in a new way.  The point is to get people to listen without fear or preconception so that they will emerge inspired, enlightened and hungry for more.

Thanks, Greg, for giving us this insight.  I plan on using this in my own course at the Yale School of Music next semester called “Creating Sustainable Careers in the Arts” when I do my unit on public speaking.  I will be sharing more so stay tuned!