How to Write About Classical Music Without (Necessarily) Becoming a Critic

By Laurence Vittes | From the March/April 2025 issue of Strings

The landscape of music criticism has transformed dramatically since 1965, when I wrote my first reviews for the UCLA Daily Bruin—evolving from a discipline requiring primarily a keen ear and writing ability into a complex digital enterprise demanding diverse expertise. While traditional critical positions have declined, the skills developed in music criticism can lead to sustainable careers across the digital performing arts landscape.

In fact, critics can adapt their expertise to roles as podcasters, bloggers, fundraisers, publicists, and consultants. Their ability to communicate clearly about music proves particularly valuable in arts education. The analytical and communication skills required for criticism translate well into helping organizations pursue their visions and goals, particularly in engaging new audiences and explaining complex musical concepts to diverse communities.

Writing about classical music requires more than musical knowledge and writing skill. The best critics combine a deep understanding of repertoire, performance practice, and historical context with the ability to communicate effectively to both novice and experienced audiences. They maintain objectivity while conveying genuine enthusiasm, and they understand how to balance technical analysis with emotional response.

Peter Pastreich, who managed orchestras from Greenwich Village to the San Francisco Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque, notes, “Good critics make a big difference in a community,” and speaks about how the impact extends beyond traditional reviews to shaping cultural conversations and supporting arts education.

Here are a few things an aspiring music critic might consider when approaching this kind of work, whether you’re reviewing recordings or concerts, writing longer-form pieces, or crafting marketing materials as a publicist.  

Industry Relationships

Success in today’s landscape requires working effectively with diverse media outlets. Traditional publications that still produce print editions maintain different standards than all-digital pioneers like Bachtrack and Seen & Heard International. And whether it’s the PBS News Hour, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, or the New Yorker, each requires a distinct approach and relationship while maintaining consistent messaging about artists and institutions.

If you’re working as a freelancer, you effectively have to serve as your own publicist, and that’s not easy, especially when you’re pitching stories to larger outlets. As Lawrence Perelman, founder and CEO of Semantix Creative Group, a communications consulting firm, notes, “When you’re pitching to the New York Times, you’re not just competing with other classical music stories, but with the entire cultural landscape.” This requires developing different approaches for different publications depending on their editorial voice and readership.

Beyond traditional research tools, modern critics and copywriters need to understand the kind of data analytics and audience engagement metrics that are driving the decisions of publicists. Andrew Ousley, founder and president of Unison Media, a strategic marketing firm, particularly emphasizes the importance of understanding how different audiences engage with content across platforms: “Social media numbers can be misleading—what matters is converting engagement into actual attendance and support.”

Working with editors requires understanding journalism basics beyond being able to write a coherent sentence. Meet deadlines consistently. Write to specified lengths—slightly over is acceptable, but dramatic overwriting suggests poor planning. Reserve urgent emails for genuine emergencies like print deadlines or rare interview opportunities. Build trust by demonstrating professionalism and respect for editorial processes. Be patient. 

Concert Note-Taking

Critics rely heavily on notes taken during performances, often writing in complete darkness. Some develop refined shorthand systems using symbols and abbreviations, others just hope that what they scribble will be legible in the morning. The challenge is capturing essential details without letting note-taking distract from active listening, and to do so as discreetly as possible so as not to disturb your neighbors.

Traditional note-taking in a small green Kokuyo notebook remains my preferred method for the initial reactions that become crucial to the final review and the touchstone for its integrity. Concert programs can also serve as valuable note-taking real estate, though their glossy pages can make writing difficult in low light as your pen’s ink is likely to smudge.

Resources

Score study while listening to music remains fundamental to serious criticism. Whether using traditional miniature scores or YouTube videos with synchronized notation, following the music while listening deepens understanding and reveals interpretive choices. Online resources like the public domain sheet music library IMSLP provide access to scores and historical editions.

Academic resources have become more accessible through platforms like Academia.edu and university repositories. Many scholars willingly share their research when contacted directly. The same is true of music librarians and even critics.

Though the most important American hi-fi magazines from the golden age of analog recording have ceased publication, worldradiohistory.com preserves complete catalogues of High-Fidelity and Stereo Review magazines, offering invaluable documentation of how classical music was discussed, marketed, and reviewed across the evolution of audio formats and criticism.

Books

Essential reading for anyone entering the classical music world spans both musical analysis and cultural history. My own favorite books include Donald Tovey’s illuminating Essays in Musical Analysis and Christoph Wolff’s authoritative Bach scholarship. For deep dives into specific composers, David Cairns’ Mozart and His Operas and Cuthbert Girdlestone’s exploration of Mozart’s piano concertos offer rich insights, while David Wyn Jones brings Haydn’s world vividly to life.

For broader cultural perspective, Leonard Bernstein’s letters provide a genius insider’s view of New York’s 20th-century classical music scene, Dorothy Crawford’s Evenings On and Off the Roof chronicles music in Los Angeles 1939–71, while Tim Blanning’s The Triumph of Music gets under the skin of the industry’s evolution. I also recommend three specialized works: Harry Haskell’s chronicle of the early music revival, Colin Symes’ Setting the Record Straight on the history of recording classical music, and David Hunter’s surrealistic biography The Lives of George Frideric Handel.

Writing Tools 

Since it was released in 2007, the software program Scrivener has revolutionized how many writers approach their craft. Its unique structure allows writers to maintain multiple drafts, research notes, and reference materials in one organized workspace. The ability to view documents simultaneously as index cards, notepads, and folders proves invaluable whether juggling multiple 500-word reviews or managing longer-form pieces.

There are also a number of note-taking apps that serve various needs in a music writer’s workflow. Apple Notes offers free collaboration features, automatic audio transcribing, and basic functionality. Bear excels in specific areas like searching scanned handwriting and general search capabilities. For music writers who frequently scan program notes or handwritten observations, these features can prove invaluable. Bear also provides backlinks for internal note connections and deep links for cross-app integration.

Listening and Equipment

Quality equipment is essential for critical listening. My own system is built around Spendor A1 speakers and Rega components and provides the accuracy and emotional engagement needed for serious evaluation. Spendor A1 speakers excel particularly in vocal and chamber music reproduction, where their midrange clarity reveals subtle artistic choices.

In my experience the Cambridge Audio MXN10 streamer represents the best of modern digital audio. Its Stream Magic software handles virtually every digital format while maintaining exceptional sound quality. The device particularly shines when streaming high-resolution content from services like Apple Music, Qobuz, and Tidal or accessing network storage. Its intuitive interface makes managing large digital libraries straightforward, while its sonic neutrality ensures accurate reproduction.

For personal listening, I favor high-quality headphones like the Sennheiser HD-650s to provide concert hall–like immersion. Their balanced presentation and comfortable design support extended critical listening sessions. When combined with the MXN10’s headphone output, they create an ideal system for detailed analysis.

The Future of Music Writing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when thoughtfully integrated into music writing, serve best as assistants and intellectual companions rather than authorities. Beyond automating tasks like formatting and fact-checking, AI can function as a brainstorming partner, engaging in discussions about language choices and helping clarify ideas. It can streamline workflows through technical assistance while helping organize research materials and maintain databases of performances and recordings. However, critical evaluation, emotional response, and cultural context remain firmly in human hands. The key is understanding AI’s limitations while leveraging its strengths to enhance, not replace, the human expertise essential to meaningful music criticism.

Both Perelman and Ousley emphasize that technology should serve the fundamental goal of connecting audiences with meaningful musical experiences. Success in modern classical music writing requires balancing traditional critical values with new media competencies, including the thoughtful integration of AI tools that can enhance but never replace human insight.

Like those human critics who combine knowledge with humility, AI serves best when acknowledging its limitations. As one AI candidly admitted to me: “I apologize for my potential limitations—while I strive for accuracy, I can sound authoritative even when wrong and may fabricate convincing details. I recommend verifying important claims, using me as a research tool rather than a definitive source, and always fact-checking specific historical information independently.”

Robby the Robot couldn’t have said it any better.