The Music Critic Known as Corno di Bassetto

Love ’em or hate ’em, music critics have been around for most of music history.

However, not all music critics use a pseudonym inspired by a member of the clarinet family!

Irish music critic and multi-hyphenate George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a music critic in London for several years, where he used the pen name Corno di Bassetto. Bernard Shaw (his preferred name when he wasn’t using pen names) wrote for the Hornet and Star in London, where he attended musical performances and shared his opinions as Corno di Bassetto.

According to this article, “…readers unversed in the language [of music] immediately assumed that the Star had acquired a sophisticated and clever Continental critic who made his European sympathies public in his first “Musical Mems” column.”

Shaw describes his di Bassetto “lineage”:

“The di Bassettos were known to Mozart, and were of service to him in the production of several of his works. The title was created in 1770. We are a branch of the Reed family.”

As a historical reference, Mozart wrote several works for the basset horn in the late 18th century, including his famous Serenade for Winds in Bb Major “Gran Partita” K. 361, Die Zauberflöte K. 620, La Clemenza di Tito K. 621, and Requiem in D minor K. 626.

Although this surely went over the heads of the non-musical reader, this tongue-in-cheek remark is undoubtedly appreciated by clarinetists past and present.

To read some of di Bassetto’s critiques, check out the collection: London Music in 1888-89 as Heard by Corno di Bassetto (Later Known as Bernard Shaw) with Some Further Autobiographical Particulars.