Rosenfeld, Paul (Leopold)
Rosenfeld, Paul (Leopold)
Rosenfeld, Paul (Leopold) , American author and music critic; b. N.Y., May 4, 1890; d. there, July 21, 1946. He studied at Yale Univ. (B.A., 1912) and at Columbia Univ. School of Journalism (Litt.B., 1913). He then associated himself with progressive circles in literature and music; wrote music criticism for The Dial (1920–27); contributed also to other literary and music magazines. Although not a musician by training, Rosen-feld possessed a penetrating insight into musical values; he championed the cause of modern American music. He collected the most significant of his articles in book form: Musical Portraits (on 20 modern composers; 1920); Musical Chronicle, covering the N.Y. seasons 1917–23 (1923); An Hour with American Music (1929); Discoveries of a Music Critic (1936). Analects from his articles were publ. as Musical Impressions (N.Y., 1969).
Bibliography
J. Mellquist and L. Wiese, eds., P. R., Voyager in the Arts (N.Y., 1948); B. Mueser, The Criticism of New Music in N.Y.: 1919–1929 (City Univ. of N.Y., 1975); C. Silet, The writings of P. R.: An Annotated Bibliography (N.Y., 1981).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire