ANXIETY AND RECOIL

Chapter:

CHAPTER 6 Critics

Source:

MUSIC IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Author(s):

Richard Taruskin

We have already noted that as Schumann's career progressed, his activities became more public. In his case publicity seems to have acted as a restraint. His later music showed increasing mastery of technique, but also a tendency to conform to public expectations. As a hotheaded Davidsbündler and maverick journalist, he summed up his attitude toward such expectations in a quintessentially romantic aphorism: “People say, ‘It pleased,’ or ‘It did not please’; as if there were nothing higher than to please people!”¹⁸ (Imagine Mozart's reaction to this!) As a civic music director and the head of a large family, Schumann inclined toward “classicism,” as the term was then beginning to be understood.

Citation (MLA):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 6 Critics." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2024. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-006005.xml>.

Citation (APA):

Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 6 Critics. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 8 Dec. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-006005.xml

Citation (Chicago):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 6 Critics." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 8 Dec. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-006005.xml