The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

One of the droller jokes to do the rounds during the COVID-19 pandemic was the teasing of friends that they wouldn’t know if they had the illness, as they never had any taste in the first place. When we talk of artistic ‘taste’, we touch on an enormous subject. It can refer, like the taste of food we eat, to a purely sensory experience: whether we find the music (or poetry, or painting, or film…) appealing, sweet, vibrant, sour, and so on. But it can also reflect a dimension that verges on the moral: we often refer not just of ‘good taste’ but to ‘bad’ or ‘poor taste’, as if these qualities are self-evident to those who share our values. The application of such value judgements has been a recurring element in musical appreciation, notably in the eighteenth century when French theorists (including those in music) talked of les Goûts: the tastes for French- and Italian-style music in particular. François Couperin even entitled his 1724 collection of ten Nouveaux Concerts ‘Les Goûts -réunis’, referring to the ‘reunification’ of these distinct stylistic trends.

We may fancy that this moral aspect of artistic taste has waned over time, yet during the nineteenth century, when questions of taste were subsumed into the wilder field of aesthetics, such issues became even more important, argued with ever greater passion. A prime example is the debate over ‘absolute music’ waged between the conservative Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick (a famous supporter of Brahms) and the ‘New German School’ of Liszt and Wagner. The efforts of French musicians to carve out a musical identity free of German influence in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war are another instance. Even today, the continued debates over the supposed ‘patriotism’ / ‘jingoism’ of the Last Night of the Proms can inflame passions, and while the root cause is to do with much more than how one’s artistic ‘tastebuds’ respond to the music of Parry, Elgar and Arne, elements of musical taste are certainly a factor.

The development and shaping of our musical tastes is a complex process. It can be traced right back to the music we were exposed to in infancy and childhood, to the popular music with which we rubbed shoulders in our teenage years, to the influence of friends and mentors, as well as to our own individual pretensions and aspirations as we progress through life. It can be influenced by the views of professional critics, whether in the broadcast, print or online media: consider the influence that reviews in such publications as Gramophone and BBC Music magazines (not to mention the annual round of award ceremonies) can still have on an album’s artistic and commercial success.

Our artistic tastes change with time, but the stable elements within them may come to define us in the eyes of others. And many listeners, in their later years, find themselves drawn back to the sounds that shaped their earliest experiences, often with a strong sense of nostalgia, but sometimes with renewed enthusiasm or insight. More independent-minded souls often buck this trend, neither retreating to childhood memories nor holing up in the keeps they have constructed through their adult lives, but continually seeking out new experiences, and challenging or expanding their existing sense of musical taste into the bargain.

In our modern, pluralistic world, the moral dimension of artistic taste (argued for strenuously by such figures as the late Roger Scruton) can legitimately be questioned: one listener’s kitsch may be another’s favourite music. Avant garde music, challenging and inspirational to some, may be repellent to others. Yet such categories are not set in stone: the art of persuasion, in written and (particularly) broadcast media is still a powerful one in the right hands. And even though we may mourn the passing of the more eloquent practitioners of the past, and find some of the commentators of our own time glib and superficial, there are still some enlightening figures out there who have the ability to persuade us to new musical experiences. Such taste-shapers deserve to be celebrated while we still have them: in an age where social media ‘influencers’ are hot property, those critics and broadcasters who introduce us to new artistic experiences are just as significant.