Christopher Webber <[log in to unmask]> imperiously writes:

>With respect, Jocelyn Wang's imperious dismissal of The Critics is
>sentimental, romantic and plain wrong.

Funny, I have often read critics' sentimental, romantic and plain wrong
dismissal of certain music (and films, and books).  The eunoch analogy
is alive and well.

>Last week I had a similar, wonderful illumination thanks to Eric Fenby's
>book on Delius's music - as distinct, by the way, from his remarkable
>memoir "Delius As I Knew Him".

I never said that critics were entirely useless.  I did say that their
contribution to music amounts to less than that of composers, even minor
ones.  My gripe is not with all critics, just those who think and act as
though their hyperbole constitutes evidence that they are more important
than they actually are.

Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series