Even going beyond musical theater, Martha Graham was criticized because she did not insist on strict unison in the 1930s. Billie Holiday bent notes. And Emily Dickinson was thought incompetent because her rhymes were rarely exact. If you work by the standards of non-sloppy, non-flat, and exact, each of these artists would be dismissed.
To criticize one artist for not conforming to the taste of practices of another is a losing proposition.
Hitting all the marks of what some people consider "craftsmanship" is no guarantee of quality.
Many people genuinely dislike the score of 1776. Yes it is well crafted. But the neatness of it lyric writing makes it feel dumbed down to me. The neatness of Sonheim, Ira Gershwin, and Hammerstein does not feel dumbed down--it can feel profound in fact. Something can be well-crafted in a traditional way, but still not appeal.
Goethe's three points still are one of the best frameworks for criticism:
What was the artist trying to do?
Did they succeed in doing it?
Was it worth doing? |
