Harold C. Schonberg

Harold C (harles) Schonberg (born November 29, 1915 in New York City , † July 26, 2003 ibid ) was an American journalist and music critic . In 1971 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism .

life and work

Schonberg began playing the piano at the age of four. He studied at Brooklyn College and New York University , where he completed his master's thesis on Elizabethan songbooks in 1938 . During World War II he served in the US Army. From 1946 to 1950 he worked as a music and record critic for the New York Sun , and from 1948 to 1952 for the musical Courier . In 1950 he began writing for the New York Times , of which he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. Even after his retirement he worked as a cultural critic for this newspaper until 1985 and was active as a journalist until the end of his life. In 1971, Schonberg was the laureate of the Pulitzer Prize's music criticism section, which had only been created the previous year , and he also received two honorary doctorates .

In his reviews and articles, in view of the striving for perfection in the 20th century, Schonberg showed himself to be a proponent of what he saw as the more emotional and personal interpretation practice of the 19th century. A passable pianist himself, his main interest was the piano. Among the pianists preferred by Schonberg were Emil Gilels , Swjatoslaw Richter , Lazar Berman and later Evgeni Kissin . On the other hand, he was skeptical about the conducting style of Leonard Bernstein , as well as the current of serialism . Schonberg was also an expert in chess and painting .

Harold C. Schonberg is the author of 13 books, including The Great Pianists (1963), The Great Conductors (1967) and Horowitz: His Life and Music (1992), which have also been translated into German.

literature

• Patrick J. Smith:  Schonberg, Harold C. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).

Web links

• Obituary New York Times, Allan Kozinn July 27, 2003 (Engl.)