The Critical Writings of Henri Blanchard on the Beethoven String Quartets

Abstract

Henri-Louis Blanchard (1791-1858) was the most prolific critic for the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris, the most significant French music periodical of the nineteenth century. His writings covered a wide variety of subjects, including opera, chamber music, piano virtuosi, music education, vocal music, as well as biographical notices on many musical figures. Viewed by his contemporaries as an important and influential critic, his extensive output in the journal indicates that his writings represent a great deal of what the Parisian public was reading about music at this time. This study examines Blanchard's writings on the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. Blanchard wrote on Beethoven throughout his career, thus allowing us to observe the evolution of Blanchard's aesthetic.