Why was Brahms criticized for being too traditional?
Critics called me too traditional? Let them. Perhaps they mistook my respect for mastery for a lack of invention. They wanted novelty for its own sake, a constant clamor for the next sensation. But music, like any art, requires a solid foundation. To suggest that because I honor the structures of the past, I cannot express the emotions of the present, is a shallow critique. My Violin Concerto in D major, for example, adheres to established concerto form, but its emotional landscape is entirely my own. Too much emotion spoils the line if it is not disciplined.
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