Jonathan O'Neill’s Reviews > Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven's Time > Status Update
Jonathan O'Neill
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I wasn't intending to read this right away and I'll probably still just dip my toes for a bit while I finish some other books but this from the sample excerpts was just too good to ignore:
"The Finale of [of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony] is to me for the most part dull and ugly.... Oh, the pages of stupid and hopelessly vulgar music! The unspeakable cheapness of the chief tune, 'Freude, Freude'!"
:D :D
— Jul 26, 2025 02:29AM
"The Finale of [of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony] is to me for the most part dull and ugly.... Oh, the pages of stupid and hopelessly vulgar music! The unspeakable cheapness of the chief tune, 'Freude, Freude'!"
:D :D
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Jonathan’s Previous Updates
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 73 of 336
I played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard! It annoys me that this self-inflated mediocrity is hailed as a genius. Why, in comparison with him, Raff is a giant, not to speak of Rubinstein, who is after all a live and important human being, while Brahms is chaotic and absolutely empty dried-up stuff.
Tchaikovsky's Diary, 1886
😲 Pyotr, you slimy devil!! 😁
— Aug 14, 2025 04:55AM
Tchaikovsky's Diary, 1886
😲 Pyotr, you slimy devil!! 😁
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 57 of 336
Berlioz, musically speaking, is a lunatic; a classical composer only in Paris, the great city of quacks. His music is simply and undisguisedly nonsense. He is a kind of Orchestral Liszt, than which I could name nothing more intensely disagreeable.
Shots fired! A few innocents caught in the cross-fire too! :D
— Aug 05, 2025 05:13AM
Shots fired! A few innocents caught in the cross-fire too! :D
Jonathan O'Neill
is on page 27 of 336
"... Bestial cries are heard: neighing horses, the squeal of a brass pig, crying jackasses, amorous quacks of a monstrous toad... Listening to this screaming music (a jazz band concert) for a minute or two, one conjures up an orchestra of madmen, sexual maniacs, led by a man-stallion beating time with an enormous phallos"
- Maxim Gorky
— Aug 03, 2025 05:45AM
- Maxim Gorky
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Jul 26, 2025 02:30AM
- Philip Hale, eminent American music critic
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I seem to remember that one, Jonathan. Didn't he say the Ode to Joy reminded him of Yankee Doodle? (Forgive me if I'm mistaken. It's more than 40 years since I read the book, but this critic's trashing of Beethoven's Ninth is unforgettable.)
"Max Reger is the composer whose name is the same backwards and forwards and, paradoxically, his music evinces the same effect".
What? I've woken up to this?The last movement of the B9 is dull and ugly?
How can that be?
Who is this critic? Give me a name and address and I'll post them a cake of soap so they can wash out such silliness from their mouth!
SIGNED
Enraged B9 loyal fan.
Gary wrote: "I seem to remember that one, Jonathan. Didn't he say the Ode to Joy reminded him of Yankee Doodle? (Forgive me if I'm mistaken. It's more than 40 years since I read the book, but this critic's tras..."😂 I'm not sure about that, Gary, I only took this from an excerpt on the back of the book. I've only made it through the foreword so far but if he did say that... Sensational stuff! 😁
P.S. Congratulations on a relationship with Classical music that exceeds my time on this Earth! 😲
Elentarri wrote: "😱"Shocking stuff hey, El! 😆
Julio wrote: ""Max Reger is the composer whose name is the same backwards and forwards and, paradoxically, his music evinces the same effect"."😂 I had to flick through the book to see if that was included and, indeed, it is! I like the beginning of that critique actually:
"[Reger's Quartet, op.109]... looks like music, it sounds like music, it might even taste like music; yet it remains, stubbornly, not music."
Thanks for that Julio. It's funny that as I flick through the book in advance, I notice that most of the composers with the largest amount of criticism are those that we now consider the most groundbreaking. Bringing truth to what I presume will be discussed in the Prelude here, titled 'Non-Acceptance of the Unfamiliar'. We've all been guilty of this to some degree, I'm sure, but when you're a professional critic it can really come back to bite you in a big way! 😆
Colin wrote: "What? I've woken up to this?The last movement of the B9 is dull and ugly?
How can that be?
Who is this critic? Give me a name and address and I'll post them a cake of soap so they can wash out suc..."
😁 I did name and shame, Col! The critic who is responsible for this filth has been named in the first comment (GR character limit wouldn't allow me to place it in the update 🙄).
Save some of that anger for future updates, my friend, there'll be a lot more where this came from! 😂
Funny, I just put the piece on to make sure it was still as brilliant as I remember and... Yep! Nothing's changed! 😁 Actually, I think it sounds better than ever! 😍🎵🎶
Jonathan wrote: "Gary wrote: "I seem to remember that one, Jonathan. Didn't he say the Ode to Joy reminded him of Yankee Doodle? (Forgive me if I'm mistaken. It's more than 40 years since I read the book, but this ..."Thanks, Jonathan. Frankly, I'm not certain about the "Yankee Doodle" reference, i.e. that it's from Hale's obnoxious review. It might be from another, earlier review of the 9th. I looked for my old copy of Slonimsky's book, but I couldn't find it. It might be in the back of one of my over-stuffed bookshelves or packed away in a box. Anyway, I think you'll enjoy the read. 😊
Jonathan wrote: "Funny, I just put the piece on to make sure it was still as brilliant as I remember and... Yep! Nothing's changed! 😁 Actually, I think it sounds better than ever! 😍🎵🎶"You've restored my hope for the world!
CB
Gary wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Gary wrote: "I seem to remember that one, Jonathan. Didn't he say the Ode to Joy reminded him of Yankee Doodle? (Forgive me if I'm mistaken. It's more than 40 years since I read th..."Thanks Gary. The fact that the "Prelude" was written by none other than Peter Schickele, the "founder" of the great masterpieces of PDQ Bach 😁 is a damn good omen!
Colin wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Funny, I just put the piece on to make sure it was still as brilliant as I remember and... Yep! Nothing's changed! 😁 Actually, I think it sounds better than ever! 😍🎵🎶"You've rest..."
I should've patted myself on the back and called it a day 10hrs ago, Col! That's no small feat, restoring a man's hope! 😆
