Questioning The Premise

A reader responds to ArtsJournal’s newest blog by questioning the very foundation of the critical conversation. “While it is interesting to see what name critics apply to certain groups of individual composers, many of those composers eschew the categories anyway, preferring to simply do their own work and get on with it.” Alex Ross, for one, is stung a bit by the critique, but says such reminders may be for the best: “I feel as though casual posts are being scrutinized as if carved in marble. I guess, though, it’s always good for critics to get smacked around a little. Profound, mysterious irony: some of us don’t take criticism very well.”