© 2003 by Oxford University Press
Johann Nikolaus Forkel on the Listening Practices of ‘Kenner’ and ‘Liebhaber’
The once influential idea that special authority resides in the perceptions of the ‘expert’ listener who attends to music's immanent formal relationships has recently been much contested. A little-known early stage in its history is found in the writings of the music historian Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1749–1818). His account of expert and inexpert listening practices was shaped by his experiences as director of the concert series at the University of Göttingen, his conviction that musical culture had suffered a sharp decline since the days of J. S. Bach, and his knowledge of eighteenth-century aesthetics. A trenchant critic of complacency on the part of the musical amateur, Forkel set about educating the public through free, open lectures in music theory. Although his efforts met with only limited success, his attitudes, which would gain ground in subsequent generations, are worthy of attention.