David Hurwitz (music critic)

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David Hurwitz
Born1961/1962
Wilmington, Delaware, US
Occupation
  • Music critic
  • author
Websiteclassicstoday.com
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers9,310[1]
Total views2,921,336[1]

David Hurwitz (born 1961/1962) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Based in New York, he is the founder and executive editor of ClassicsToday.com and frequently reviews recordings there. Hurwitz has published numerous books, primarily guides on specific composers for the Amadeus Press "Unlocking the Masters" series, namely, Mahler, Mozart, Dvořák, Haydn, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Berstein, Strauss and C. P. E. Bach. Other publications include an introduction to classical music, two articles on the 19th-century use of vibrato as well as surveys on the symphonies of Beethoven (the 5th and 7th) and Brahms (all four). He was the chairman for the Cannes Classical Awards while it existed from 1994 to 2010.

Life and career[]

David Hurwitz was born sometime during 1961/1962, in Wilmington, Delaware, United States.[2][n 1] Raised in Connecticut, Hurwitz attended Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University, receiving graduate degrees in Modern European History from both.[3] He has, at various times, studied piano, clarinet, viola, and percussion.[3] With latter in particular, he was an orchestral percussionist, with performing credits that include "all of [Mahler's] symphonies except for the Eighth".[2] He now lives in Brooklyn, New York.[4]

Hurwitz is the founder and executive editor of ClassicsToday.com,[4] a daily review site for classical music recordings.[5] In addition to a written review, the site gives each recording two rankings from 1–10 in "Artistic Quality" and "Sound Quality; a 1 is defined as "unacceptable, no redeeming qualities", while a 10 represents "superior, qualities of unusual merit".[6] Apart from frequent contributions on ClassicsToday.com, Hurwitz has published articles in CD Review, Classical Pulse!, High Fidelity, In Tune Monthly, Musical America, Opus, Stereo Review, The New York Observer, among other magazines.[7] He was the chairman and founder of the Cannes Classical Awards (CCA), awarded at the Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale by a multinational jury of critics from around the world. The CCA existed from 1994 to 2010, until it was replaced by the Midem Classical Awards and presently, the International Classical Music Awards; Hurwitz left after 2010.[8][4]

His publications include several books designed to acquaint the casual listener with classical music, the earliest being the 1992 Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music.[9] Later books include various volumes for the "Unlocking the Masters" series of the Amadeus Press (part of Rowman & Littlefield).[10] These contributions were Volume 2, on Mahler's symphonies;[11] Volume 3 on Mozart's instrumental works;[12] Volume 4 on Mozart's vocal works;[13] Volume 5 on Dvořák's music;[14] Volume 6 on Haydn's music;[15] Volume 9 on Shostakovich's symphonies and concertos;[16] Volume 12 on the orchestral works of Sibelius;[17] Volume 22 on Leonard Bernstein's orchestral music;[18] Volume 25 on the music of Richard Strauss;[19] and Volume 28 on the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.[20][n 2] Other books include studies of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies,[21] and the Brahms symphonies.[22]

In 2020 Hurwitz launched a YouTube channel on which he regularly posts video reviews and discographical surveys.[23]

Musicological scholarship[]

Hurwitz has published two articles on the subject of vibrato in 19th-century musical performance. His study "'So Klingt Wien': Conductors, Orchestras, and Vibrato in the 19th and Early 20th Century", was published in the journal Music and Letters in February 2012.[24] In it, Hurwitz marshals evidence from period treatises and other sources to oppose the arguments of musicologist Clive Brown, conductor Sir Roger Norrington, and others that orchestral string players applied vibrato only as an ornament, not as a basic sound. He furthers that the basic orchestral string tone was "straight" or vibrato-free—during the period in question; Hurwitz argues that continuous vibrato was, instead, already typical.[24]

In a 2014 study, "Vibrato, the Orchestral Organ and the ‘Prevailing Aesthetic’ in Nineteenth-Century Symphonic Music," published in the Cambridge University Press journal Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Hurwitz surveyed extensive evidence on the design of organs in the nineteenth century. His sources included correspondence, published articles, transcriptions, and actual organs surviving intact from the era. He argues that they demonstrate that in seeking to capture the sound of string sections as faithfully as possible, organ builders of the nineteenth century were unanimous and quite explicit in reporting that string sections played with continuous vibrato.[25]

Selected bibliography[]

Books[]

  • Hurwitz, David (1992). Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42054-9.
  • —— (2004). The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. 2. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-099-8.
  • —— (2005a). Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works. Unlocking the masters. 3. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-096-7.
  • —— (2005b). Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Vocal Works. Unlocking the masters. 4. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-106-3.
  • —— (2005c). Dvořák: Romantic Music's Most Versatile Genius. Unlocking the masters. 5. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-107-0.
  • —— (2005d). Exploring Haydn: A Listener's Guide to Music's Boldest Innovator. Unlocking the masters. 6. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-116-2.
  • —— (2006). Shostakovich Symphonies and Concertos: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. 9. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-131-5.
  • —— (2007). Sibelius: The Orchestral Works: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. 12. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-131-5.
  • —— (2008). Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies: A Closer Look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-2944-5.
  • —— (2009). Brahms' Symphonies: A Closer Look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-3164-6.
  • —— (2011). Bernstein's Orchestral Music: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. 22. Montclair: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-193-3.
  • —— (2014a). Richard Strauss: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. 25. Montclair: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-442-2.
  • —— (2016). C.P.E.: A Listener's Guide to the Other Bach. Unlocking the masters. 28. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-467-5.

Articles[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Hurwitz's birthdate can be conjectured to 1961/1962 since he is said to be 43 in Filipski 2005
  2. ^ Other volumes were written by various by Victor Lederer, Mark Ringer and John Bell Young as well as one each by Gordon Johns, M. Owen Lee and Thomas May.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "About David Hurwitz". YouTube.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Filipski, Kevin (26 March 2005). "Hear This". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "David Hurwitz: About David Hurwitz". Amazon. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Hurwitz 2004, back cover.
  5. ^ "About Us". Classics Today. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Rating System". Classics Today. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  7. ^ "David Hurwitz". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Souvenirs, souvenirs….ICMA Jury Goes Back To Its Roots". International Classical Music Awards. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  9. ^ Hurwitz 1992.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Unlocking the Masters". Rowman & Littlefield. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  11. ^ Hurwitz 2004.
  12. ^ Hurwitz 2005a.
  13. ^ Hurwitz 2005b.
  14. ^ Hurwitz 2005c.
  15. ^ Hurwitz 2005d.
  16. ^ Hurwitz 2006.
  17. ^ Hurwitz 2007.
  18. ^ Hurwitz 2011.
  19. ^ Hurwitz 2014a.
  20. ^ Hurwitz 2016.
  21. ^ Hurwitz 2008.
  22. ^ Hurwitz 2009.
  23. ^ David Hurwitz. Retrieved 31 August 2021 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz 2012.
  25. ^ Hurwitz 2014b.

External links[]

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