What do Critics Know?

The success of this composer's first symphony left him on top of the world, but this comfortable position was not to last. In fact, his toppling was probably orchestrated because he was so famous, as a demonstration of official power over artists. Hostile, threatening reviews of two of his works led to the withdrawal of this bracingly modern work for nearly thirty years! Whether or not he "meant it," his next, far more conventional fifth symphony was self-described as a "response to just criticism."…