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Harold C. Schonberg

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Harold Charles Schonberg(29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an Americanmusic criticand author. He is best known for his contributions inThe New York Times,where he waschief music criticfrom 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the first music critic to win thePulitzer Prize for Criticism.An influential critic,[1]he is particularly well known for his encouragement ofRomanticpiano music and criticism of conductorLeonard Bernstein.[2]He also wrote a number of books on music, and one onchess.

Schonberg, date unknown

Life and career

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Early life

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Harold Charles Schonberg was born inWashington Heights, Manhattanin New York City, New York on 29 November 1915.[3]His parents were David and Minnie (Kirsch) Schonberg,[4]and he had a brother (Stanley) and a sister (Edith).[5]His aunt,Alice Friscawas an early influence and his first music teacher; she was a former concert pianist, and had studied withLeopold Godowsky.[3]He started piano lessons with Frisca at four years old, and "discovered early on that he had a superb musical memory that allowed him to remember pieces in great detail after a single hearing".[3]Schonberg himself cited the first performance he saw at theMetropolitan Operaaround age 12 as particularly formative to his musical upbringing.[6]A performance of Richard Wagner'sDie Meistersinger von Nürnbergwith the conductorArtur Bodanzky,he would later write on the experience 39 years later, reflecting on the opera's opening chord that it "rose to the dress circle, and he felt as though he could reach out, touch it, caress it. He had been to concerts before, but somehow, in this vast dark auditorium, there was a different feeling to the texture and even the organization of this chord. It sounded warm and cozy. It covered him like a blanket."[7][n 1]In his recounting of the event, Schonberg claimed the experience as having inaugurated his desire to be a music critic.[8]

Schonberg received aBachelor of ArtsatBrooklyn College(1937),[1]during which he published his first music criticism in theMusical Advancejournal.[8]He then studied as a graduate student atNew York University,receiving aMaster of Artsin 1938 while studying under the composerMarion Bauer.[1][8]His dissertation concernedElizabethansongbooks, which he studied in both musical and literary contexts.[8]In his early life, Schonberg was also interested in the visual arts, studying drawing at theArt Students League of New Yorkand sometimes illustrating his music criticism withcaricaturesof the musicians they featured.[8]In 1939, Schonberg received his first post as a music critic: he was associate editor and critic at theAmerican Music Lover.[8][n 2]

During World War II, Schonberg was a first lieutenant in theUnited States ArmyAirborne Signal Corps. He had hoped to enlist as a pilot, but was declared pastel-blind (he could distinguish colors but not shadings and subtleties) and was sent to London, where he was a code breaker and later a parachutist. He broke his leg on a training jump before D-Day and could not participate in theNormandy landings;every member of his platoon who jumped into France was ultimately killed. He remained in the Army until 1946.

AtThe New York Times

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Schonberg joinedThe New York Timesin 1950. He rose to the post of senior music critic for theTimesa decade later. In this capacity he published daily reviews and longer features onoperasandclassical musicon Sundays. He also worked effectively behind the scenes to increase music coverage in theTimesand develop its first-rate music staff. Upon his retirement as senior music critic in 1980, he became cultural correspondent for theTimes.

Schonberg also wrote articles forHarper'sandHigh Fidelitymagazine, among others.

Schonberg was an extremely influential music writer. Aside from his contributions tomusic journalism,he published 13 books, most of them on music, includingThe Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Present(1963, revised 1987)—pianists were a specialty of Schonberg—andThe Lives of the Great Composers(1970; revised 1981, 1997) which traced the lives of major composers fromMonteverdithrough to modern times. Schonberg wrote a biography ofVladimir Horowitz,one of the most famous pianists of the 20th century, entitledHorowitz: His Life and Music(1992).

Criticisms of Bernstein

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Schonberg was highly critical ofLeonard Bernsteinduring the composer-conductor's eleven-year tenure (1958–69) as principal conductor of theNew York Philharmonic.He accused Bernstein of showing off by using exaggerated gestures on the podium and of conducting a piece in a way that made its structure overly obvious to audiences (e.g., slowing down during the transition from one main theme to another).[9]

One of Schonberg's best remembered criticisms of Bernstein was written afterthe famous 6 April 1962, performancebefore which Bernstein announced that he disagreed with pianistGlenn Gould's interpretation ofBrahms'Piano Concerto No. 1but was going to conduct it anyway because he found it fascinating. Schonberg chided Bernstein in print, suggesting that he should have either refrained from publicizing his disagreement, backed out of the concert, or imposed his own will on Gould; Schonberg called Bernstein "the Peter Pan of music".[10]

After Bernstein's regular tenure at the New York Philharmonic ended, however, Schonberg seemed to mellow in his attitude toward him and actually began to praise his conducting, stating in his bookThe Glorious Onesthat "with age, came less of a need to prove something", and that "there were moments of glory in his conceptions."

Later life and death

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In 1984, Schonberg taught music criticism atMcMaster Universityin Hamilton, Canada.

In 1987, it was announced that Schonberg was assistingVladimir Horowitzin the preparation of the pianist's memoirs. Although the project was never completed, Schonberg's biography of Horowitz was published in 1992. Also in 1987, he served on the jury of thePaloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.[11]

Schonberg died in New York City on 26 July 2003, at the age of 87, of an unspecified cause.[12]In his obituary notice inThe New York Timesthe next day,Allan Kozinnwrote that Schonberg "set the standard for critical evaluation and journalistic thoroughness."[13]TheUniversity of Maryland Librarieshave a Harold C. Schonberg collection in their International Piano Archives at Maryland; it contains a substantial collection of correspondences between Schonberg and fellow critics, musicians and readers.[14]

Other interests

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A devoted and skilledchessplayer, Schonberg covered the 1972championship match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischerheld in Reykjavík, Iceland. One of Schonberg's books not on music wasGrandmasters of Chess.He also reviewed mysteries and thrillers forThe New York Timesunder the pseudonymNewgate Callenderfrom 1972 to 1995.[13]

Schonberg was an avidgolfer,though a poor one by his own estimation. He co-authored the bookHow To Play Double Bogey Golf(1975) along withHollis Alpert,founder of theNational Society of Film Critics,and fellow author Ira Mothner. Schonberg, Mothner and Alpert frequently played golf together, according to the book.

Selected publications

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Books

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Source:[15][16]

  • Schonberg, Harold C. (1955).Chamber and Solo Instrument Music.Guide to Long-Playing Records. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
  • —— (1959).The Collector's Chopin and Schumann.Keystone Books in Music. J. B. Lippincott.
  • —— (1956).The Great Pianists.London: Victor Gollancz.
  • —— (1972).Grandmasters of Chess.Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott.ISBN9784871875677.OCLC951569212.
  • —— (1981).The Great Conductors.New York: Summit Books.ISBN9780671254063.OCLC614438015.
  • —— (1981).Facing the Music.New York: Summit Books.ISBN9780671254063.OCLC7204970.OL4255142M.
  • —— (1997).The Lives of the Great Composers(Third ed.). New York.ISBN9780393038576.OCLC34356892.OL3259514W.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • —— (1985).The Glorious Ones: Classical Music's Legendary Performers.New York.ISBN9780812911893.OCLC11598959.OL3259509W.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • —— (1992).Horowitz: his life and music.New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN9780671712198.OCLC26130513.

References

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Notes

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  1. ^Schonberg wrote his account of the 1927 performance in third person. The music journalistAllan Kozinndescribed his avoidance of first person as a characteristic of his style.[6]
  2. ^TheAmerican Music Loverlater became theAmerican Record Guide,the name which it is better known by.[8]

Citations

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  1. ^abcSmith 2005,§ para. 1.
  2. ^Helgert 2013,"5. Since 1960".
  3. ^abcKozinn 2003,§ para. 19.
  4. ^Brennan & Clarage 1999,81.
  5. ^"Paid Notice: Deaths Schonberg, Harold C."The New York Times.27 July 2003.Retrieved2 September2022.
  6. ^abKozinn 2003,§ para. 20.
  7. ^Kozinn 2003,§ paras. 20–22.
  8. ^abcdefgKozinn 2003,§ para. 23.
  9. ^Schonberg, Harold (1977).The great conductors.London: Gollancz.ISBN9780575000292.
  10. ^Schonberg, Harold (1981).Facing the music.New York: Summit Books.
  11. ^Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition “Winners, members of the jury and artistic guests”
  12. ^LA Times,§ para. 1.
  13. ^abKozinn 2003.
  14. ^"Harold C. Schonberg".University of Maryland Libraries.Retrieved28 November2021.
  15. ^Smith 2005,§ "Writings".
  16. ^Brennan & Clarage 1999,82.

Sources

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Further reading

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Library resources
By Harold C. Schonberg
  • Articlesby and about Harold C. Schonberg in theNY Times
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