Huneker, James Gibbons (EN)

Huneker James Gibbons, *31 January 1857 Philadelphia, †9 February 1921 New York, American critic and music writer. He studied piano with G. Mathias, E. Neuper and R. Joseffy. Between 1888 and 1898, as Joseffy’s assistant, he taught piano at the National Conservatory in New York. From 1889 until the end of his life, he worked as a music critic, publishing articles in the press, mainly in New York (“Musical Courier” – 1889–1902; “Recorder” – 1891–95; “Morning Advertiser” – 1895–97; “Town Topics” – 1897–1902; “New York Sun” – 1900–02; “Philadelphia Press” – 1917–18; “New York Times’”– 1918–19; “New York World” – 1919–21). In the “New York Sun” he also wrote about the theatre (1902–04), the fine arts (1906–12) and art in general (1916–17), and in the magazine “Puck” he edited a column devoted to all fields of art (1914–16).

Huneker was an eminent critic who made a significant contribution to promoting the music of his time, as well as other fields of European art, in the United States. He published over 20 books, mostly collections of his articles; some of these books contain articles devoted to issues in theatre (Iconoclasts, 1905), literature (Egoists, 1909) and the fine arts (Promenades of an Impressionist, 1910). Of particular significance to musicology is his monograph on Chopin, conventionally divided into a biographical section and a section on his works, organised by genre and examined from a pianist’s perspective. In this work, Huneker included remarks and performance tips, as well as his own opinions on the performance of individual Chopin works; among other things, he spoke highly of K. Klindworth’s edition, thereby expressing his affinity for the sound ideals of the Neo-Romantics. Although it is difficult to agree with some of Huneker’s performance notes, they constitute valuable material for the study of aesthetic and performance preferences. In terms of its approach to Chopin’s work, Huneker’s book represents a step forward compared with earlier monographs. Admittedly, it lacks a deeper analysis of the works, and the evaluative judgements are generally unsubstantiated; yet Huneker recognised Chopin’s innovation, which lay in anticipating the changes that took place in music in the second half of the 19th century; yet, like earlier authors, he underestimated his later works, particularly the Sonata Op. 65. He also noted Chopin’s mastery in shaping large-scale forms. Huneker is the author of analytical and historical commentaries for G. Schirmer’s edition of Chopin’s complete works. Between 1902 and 1908, the Gubrynowicz and Schmidt bookshop in Lviv published the Études, Preludes Op. 28, Nocturnes and Ballades with commentary by Huneker (translated from English by M. Finklówna).

Literature: Letters of James Gibbons Huneker, ed. J. Huneker, New York 1922; Intimate Letters of James Gibbons Huneker, ed. J. Huneker, New York 1924; B. De Casseres James Gibbons Huneker, New York 1925; F. Hoesick Szopen po amerykańsku, “Wiadomości Muzyczne” 1925 No. 1; H.L. Mencken Huneker. A memory, in: Modern American Prose, New York 1934; A.T. Schwab James Gibbons Huneker. Critic of the Seven Arts, Stanford (California) 1963 (contains a list of Huneker’s books, an extensive bibliography and a note about sources); J. Methuen-Campbell Huneker on Chopin – Elitist or Educator?, in: Chopin 1810–2010. Ideas – Interpretation – Influence, Warsaw 2017.