The Kozinn Effect: A New York Times Music Critic and His Dislike for the French Horn

“The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces.” –Anatole France

As the word spreads on the New York Times article “The French Horn – That Wild Card of the Orchestra” in which the French horn and the New York Philharmonic horn section are much maligned, more people are chiming in.

In addition to sources quoted in “Wild Card Critic,” here is more of the latest, including an email found on a forum from the critic himself:

• International Horn Society President Jeffrey Snedeker has posted a message at IHS Online. His stance assumes the high ground between responsible reporting and realistic expectations of live performances. This is similar to a response made in “Chasing Rainbows.”
• A discussion at the TrumpetHerald.com includes an email reply from Mr. Kozinn where he defends his position and clarifies his stance.
  

  The reaction to this piece has been extremely interesting. I’ve had something more than 200 emails. Roughly 10% were from irate hornists and their colleagues [EDIT]. Among the other 90% were a surprisingly high number from hornists, both professional and part time, who said, basically, “it’s true, we offer too many excuses, and we should be held to account.” Many of the others, from both professional musicians and “civilian” readers alike, listed performances that had been ruined for them by substandard horn playing — some going back decades: those performances weren’t just ruined, they were ruined so spectacularly that people haven’t forgotten them. That, I think, is what horn players should be worrying about instead of whether or not they’re called on it in the New York Times.

• At the Pillage Idiot blog, blogger “Attila” paints sports metaphors, and astutely points out that “clams” are more often the by-product of the harmonic series and not due to errant condensation, as Mr. Kozinn has written.

Other related items of interest:

• An old post at “The Short Road to Nirvana,” discusses an article by Kozinn in which David Jolley is sharply critiqued. It offers a composer’s perspective.
• Check out Mr. Kozinn’s biography on Wikipedia. Reading between the lines, one would surmise that his musical background is in the pop genre – guitar and keyboards, maybe?
• See an old post at Greg Sandow’s blog where he asks, WTF dude?