David Hurwitz (music critic)

David Hurwitz is a classical music writer, record reviewer, and percussionist.^[1] He was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in Connecticut. He earned graduate degrees in Modern European History from Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University, and has studied and played the piano, clarinet, viola, and percussion.^[2]

Musical criticism

Hurwitz has written classical music reviews for High Fidelity, Fanfare, Amazon.com, and the website Classics Today (of which he is a founder and Executive Editor). Hurwitz has written several books designed to acquaint the casual listener with classical music, including Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music. He has also written in Amadeus Press's "Unlocking the Masters" series, which includes books on specific composers, such as Exploring Haydn: A Listener's Guide to Music's Boldest Innovator.^[3] as well as other composers including Antonín Dvořák, Mozart and more; and, "Owner's Manuals" to some of their works, such as the symphonies of Mahler, Shostakovich, and Sibelius. Hurwitz resides in Brooklyn, New York.^[1][4] His most recent books include studies of Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, the Brahms symphonies, and Leonard Bernstein's orchestral music. His musicological article “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. 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 -and 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. The topic remains controversial among musicologists.

Works

• Hurwitz, David (1992). Beethoven or bust: a practical guide to understanding and listening to great music. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-42054-4. 
• Hurwitz, David (2004). The Mahler symphonies: an owner's manual (Volume 2 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-099-9. 
• Hurwitz, David (2005). Getting the most out of Mozart: the instrumental works (Volume 3 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-096-4. 
• Hurwitz, David (2005). Getting the most out of Mozart: the vocal works (Volume 4 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-106-5. 
• Hurwitz, David (2005). Dvořák: romantic music's most versatile genius (Volume 5 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-107-3. 
• Hurwitz, David (2005). Exploring Haydn: a listener's guide to music's boldest innovator (Volume 6 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-116-2. 
• Hurwitz, David (2006). Shostakovich symphonies and concertos: an owner's manual (Volume 9 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-131-6. 
• Hurwitz, David (2007). Sibelius: the orchestral works : an owner's manual (Volume 12 of the "Unlocking the masters" series). Pompton Plains, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 1-57467-131-6. 
• Hurwitz, David (2008). Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh symphonies: a closer look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-2944-0. 
• Hurwitz, David (2009). Brahms' symphonies: a closer look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-3164-X. 
• Hurwitz, David (2014). Richard Strauss: An Owner's Manual. Montclair, NJ: Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-57467-442-2. 

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Filipski, Kevin (2005-03-26). "HEAR THIS". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 2010-02-26. 
2. ↑
3. ↑ Hurwitz (2005)
4. ↑ Hurwitz (2007), back cover