The 37th Slovenian Music Days will focus on art music criticism. Influenced by aesthetic preferences that were dictated by various musical, socio-political, institutional and also personal changes, such criticism has undergone considerable changes over time. From being one of the central genres of the so-called »newspaper civilisation« during the long 19th century – which in addition to numerous items of musical news and chronicles was marked above all by long essayistic articles and some ideologically inspired constructs at the service of various totalitarian regimes in the first half of the 20th century – to the increasing marginalisation of art music criticism with the current dominance of pop culture. Of course, the role of art music criticism has always depended on the more or less flourishing musical production and reproduction connected with the different musical institutions and milieus in which such texts were written, the aesthetic standards prevalent in society, the media in which they were published, and, last but not least, the knowledge, reputation and influence of the music critics.
- dr. Jernej Weiss