Part I. The Early History of Music Criticism: 1. Speaking of plainsong in the Middle Ages Christopher Page; 2. Music criticism in the Late-Medieval and Renaissance era Stefano Mengozzi; 3. Musical discourse in Italy 1500¿1800 Carrie Churnside; 4. Music criticism in France before the Revolution Charles Dill; 5. Music criticism in Britain up to Burney Rebecca Herissone; 6. German Music criticism before 1800 Stephen Rose; Part II. The Rise of the Press: 7. French music criticism in the nineteenth century, 1789¿1870 Mark A. Pottinger; 8. Gatekeeping, advocacy, reflection: overlapping voices in nineteenth-century British music criticism Leanne Langley; 9. Constructing a musical nation: German-language criticism in the nineteenth century Laura Tunbridge; 10. Music criticism in nineteenth-century Italy Alexandra Wilson; 11. Music criticism in Imperial Russia Emily Frey; Part III. Critical Influence and Influences: 12. Critiquing the canon: the role of criticism in canon formation Laura Hamer; 13. Comparing notes: recording and criticism Christopher Dingle; 14. The gender paradox: criticism of women and women as critics Laura Hamer; Part IV. Entering the Twentieth Century: 15. Music criticism in the United States and Canada up to the Second World War Mark McKnight; 16. Music criticism in Portugal: towards an overview Paulo F. de Castro; 17. Spanish music criticism in the twentieth century: writing music history in real time Eva Moreda Rodríguez; 18. Critical battlegrounds in the French Third Republic Delphine Mordey; 19. British music criticism, 1890¿1945 Paul Watt; 20. Music criticism in Norway Per Dahl; 21. Aesthetic conservatism and politics in German music criticism, 1900¿1945 Karen Painter; 22. Music criticism in Hungary until WWII Lynn M. Hooker; 23. The 'people' in Czech and Slovak music criticism Kelly St Pierre; Part V. New Areas: 24. Jazz criticism in America Mark Racz; 25. Catalysing Latin American identities: Alejo Carpentier's music criticism as a Cuban case study Caroline Rae; 26. Writing about popular music Simon Frith; 27. Working in the cool capitalism complex: the role of critics in the world music field Timothy D. Taylor; 28. Cultural anxieties, aspirational cosmopolitanism and capacity building: music criticism in Singapore Shzr Ee Tan; Part VI. Developments since the Second World War: 29. Music criticism in the USSR from Asafyev to Cherednichenko Peter J. Schmelz; 30. The Feuilleton and beyond: criticism in the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria after the Second World War Mark Berry; 31. Music criticism in Italy in the twentieth century Raffaele Pozzi; 32. Wider still and wider: British music criticism since the Second World War Christopher Dingle; 33. Music criticism in France since the Second World War Christopher Brent Murray; 34. Old divisions and new debates: music criticism in post-war America Sophie Redfern; 35. Stop the press? The changing media of criticism Christopher Dingle and Dominic McHugh.