Bernard H. Haggin (December 29, 1900 – May 28, 1987) was an American journalist and music critic.

Early life

Haggin was born in New York City, on December 29, 1900, the son of Samuel Hurwitz and Tonie Herschman Hurwitz.https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WWK-ZND He went to school in Manhattan and, too young for conscription in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, completed his high school education in 1918. He went on to the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, where he graduated in 1922. The following year he published his first music review.Drake, James A
"Haggin, B. H. (1900–1987), music critic"
''American National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 1999. Retrieved 23 August 2021

Career

Haggin wrote as a freelance, reviewing music and dance, until October 1934, when he was appointed music critic of the ''

Brooklyn Daily Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'', retaining the post until 1937. From 1936 to 1957 he was music critic of the weekly magazine ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

''. '' The American National Biography'' says of his work there: "Not given to self-doubt, Haggin attributed the reputation he earned in the ''Nation'' to 'a musician's ear, and an ability to assemble words in orderly, clear statements'".
From 1946 to 1949, at the invitation of

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

, its chief music critic, Haggin contributed a column about music on the radio for ''

The New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

.'' After his tenure at

ended, he reviewed music and ballet for ''

The Hudson Review ''The Hudson Review'' is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. History It was founded in 1947 in New York, by William Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1 ...

'' from 1958 to 1972, records for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' from 1958 to 1966 and music from 1975 to 1978, and records for ''

The Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...

'' until 1985,''Music for one who enjoys Hamlet'', p. ii among other publications.
He wrote twelve books on music and two on

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. He was the author of the first general guide to recorded classical music, ''Music on Records'' (1938), later expanded as ''The Listener's Musical Companion'' (1956, 1967 and 1971). Haggin died in Manhattan on 28 May 1987https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JYM7-54F : 7 January 2021 after a short illness, age 86 years. He never married.

Critical assessment

Haggin's ability to write short, clear reviews was an advantage at a time when the discursive columns of an earlier generation of critics such as

William J. Henderson William J. Henderson (born June 16, 1947) served as the United States Postmaster General from 1998 to 2001. Education Henderson graduated with a degree in industrial relations from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Career Henderson ...

James Huneker James Gibbons Huneker (January 31, 1857 – February 9, 1921) was an American art, book, music, and theater critic. A colorful individual and an ambitious writer, he was "an American with a great mission," in the words of his friend, the critic Be ...

and

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Ear ...

were less sought after by editors. Haggin said in an interview in 1980, "The equipment I began with was a musician's ear, and an ability to assemble words in orderly, clear statements, and this remained the equipment with which, as I continued, I heard more and wrote better". In the view of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', despite Haggin's claim, his later writing was inferior to his early work.Page, Tim. "B.H. Haggin, critic, essayist and author of books on music", ''The New York Times'', May 30, 1987, Section 1, p. 36 Haggin's prose was admired and sometimes praised by many of his contemporaries, but his rigid views were less well received by his fellow critics. His obituarist in ''The New York Times'' wrote:

Books

Books listed in chronological order. *''A Book of the Symphony'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1937) *''Music on Records'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1938); revised as: ''Music on Records: a New Guide to the Music, the Performances, the Recordings'' (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1940, 1941 (2nd edition, revised), 1945) *''Music for the Man who Enjoys 'Hamlet'' (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1944; reissued as ''Music for One who enjoys Hamlet,'' New York: Horizon Press, 1983 ) *''Conversations with Toscanini'' (New York: Doubleday, 1959) *''The Toscanini Musicians Knew'' (New York: Horizon Press, 1967); 2nd edition 1980 ) *''The New Listener's Companion and Record Guide'' (New York: Horizon Press, 1967); 2nd edition: 1968; 3rd edition: 1971 ; 4th edition: 1974 ; 5th edition 1978 ) *''A Decade of Music'' (New York: Horizon Press, 1973 ) *''Music Observed'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964); reissued as ''35 Years of Music'' (New York: Horizon Press, 1974 ) *''Music and Ballet, 1973-1983'' (New York: Horizon Press, 1984 ) *''Arturo Toscanini: Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro, containing reprints of two titles: Conversations with Toscanini and The Toscanini musicians knew'' (New York: Da Capo, 1989)

References

External links

"Music: The Hamlet of B. H. Haggin" (Review of "Music for the Man Who Enjoys Hamlet")
(access available with subscription) {{DEFAULTSORT:Haggin, B. H. 1900 births 1987 deaths American information and reference writers American music critics Opera critics 20th-century American non-fiction writers