The Guardian's Classical Music Critic Is At It Once Again

Classical music critic for The Guardian, Tom Service, is at it yet once again with his ignorant commentary (for a previous example, see this S&F post). Writes Mr. Service:

How did this genius composer [Mendelssohn] come to be synonymous with the worst aspects of 19th-century music – its conservatism, nostalgia, sentimentality and superficiality?

I think it's all Wagner's fault. The year after Mendelssohn's death, Wagner wrote a notorious and poisonous essay, Jewishness in Music. In it, he said that Mendelssohn "has shown us that a Jew can possess the richest measure of specific talents, the most refined and varied culture ... without even once through all these advantages being able to bring forth in us that profound, heart-and-soul searching effect we expect from music".

[...]

The reason for Wagner's vitriol was simple: he felt threatened. In the years after his death, Mendelssohn's influence made him the most important figure in German musical culture. Before Wagner could launch his musical and social revolutions, he needed to destroy Mendelssohn.

[...]

There may have been a more personal element to all this. In 1836, the 23-year-old Wagner sent Mendelssohn – only four years older but already a towering figure – a copy of his C major Symphony. Mendelssohn never replied.

The ignorance manifested by the above conclusions, even as speculation, is simply appalling. There's not a shred of authoritative historical evidence to support such conclusions, yet Mr. Service presents them as if they were matters of fact regardless of his lame opening CYA qualifier, "I think".

And you wonder why classical music is in trouble.

O tempora! O mores!