I thought I’d share a few of the music criticism books in my collection, for various reasons, but mostly just because people don’t seem to know about them.
The photos above are of the cover and some pages from one of my favorites, Virgil Thomson’s “The Art of Judging Music,” his second collection of his music reviews from the Herald Tribune, published in 1948.
In addition to being stupendous music criticism, Thomson’s writing is a superior example of good, honest American prose style.
My photos show a detail of the cover; the title page; the first page of the table of contents; and two pages of reviews. The reviews in the book duplicate the format of the Herald Tribune, which helpfully listed the cast of singers before an opera review, and the pieces that were performed on an orchestral concert.
Click on the photos for larger views.
classical life 
“The Philharmonic Crisis”!
Some things never change.
VT was the one who first pointed it out. He said that the Philharmonic was not a part of New York’s cultural life.
Aside from the coincidental fact that these reviews and this reader all appeared in 1947, this book seems to be essential reading. Thanks for the alert. (I can only hope it’s currently available in some form – analog or digital.)
You can maybe find a used copy online somewhere. You can positively find these reviews in the Library of America edition of Virgil Thomson, recently published and edited by Tim Page. It includes the entire contents of “The Art of Judging Music” as well as several others of VT’s books. Yes, essential reading. Here’s my review of the Library of America edition: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/music-638829-thomson-description.html