Robert Paul Commanday (June 18, 1922 – September 3, 2015) was an American music critic who specialized in classical music.[1] Among the leading critics of the West Coast, Commanday was a major presence in the Bay Area music scene over a five-decade career. From 1964 to 1994 he was the chief classical music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, following which he became the founding editor of San Francisco Classical Voice in 1998.
As a critic, Commanday held high standards, though his writing was interspersed with humorous comments. His focus concerned American music in general, but particularly ensembles, performers and events in San Francisco. Also a music educator and choral conductor, Commanday held brief teaching posts at Ithaca College and the University of Illinois, before a decade of teaching music and conducting choirs at the University of California, Berkeley.
"I don’t regret or withdraw a single carping article or castigating review. The standards I had held to were not set by me but by the works and the art form first and then by the artists and performing institution themselves. They also are measured by what we have come to expect of them and what they claim and aim to be."
"In that sense, evaluating is an act of respect. A symphony, opera or ballet company can’t aspire to be "world class" (a ridiculous term in any event) and profess it in the publicity and then feel it should not be judged on those terms."
Robert Commanday, June 1993 Sunday Pink section, SF Chronicle[3][2]
Commanday's first major music criticism position came in 1964, when he became the chief classical music critic and a dance critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, succeeding Alfred Frankenstein.[1] Up to that point, his writing experience mainly concerned program notes and academic articles.[5] He credits being an "inveterate letter writer" as important to the growth of his style of criticism.[5] His predecessor Frankenstein also influenced Commanday by way of the stylistic freedom and humor that characterized his writing.[5] Adopting such aspects into his own writing, writer Janos Gereben noted that "[Commanday]'s sense of humor was cherished by all (but aggrieved performers) who knew him."[3] In Grove Music Online, Patrick J. Smith describes him an "erudite and informed writer",[1] while Joshua Kosman of SFGate stated that he had "exacting standards".[2] Topics of particular interest to Commanday included the San Francisco music scene since 1850, music education and American music, especially American music after 1950 and American opera.[1] His writings were often inextricably tied to San Francisco; according to Smith, he "was a champion of local composers and musical organizations".[1] His colleague Jon Carroll at the San Francisco Chronicle noted that he "always seemed to know more about his subject than he could fit into an article".[5] Commanday retired from the SF Chronicle in 1994, and was succeeded by Joshua Kosman—whom he had handpicked—as chief classical music critic.[6]
Commanday reportedly quipped that he "flunked retirement"; following his SF Chronicle tenure, he aimed to launch an online news site for the classical music scene of San Francisco.[2] He was motivated by the decline in the circulation of print newspaper,[5] as well as his claim that much important and relevant information was ignored by local newspapers.[2] Having secured preliminary funding from businessman Gordon Getty, he worked with his wife, Mary Stevens Commanday, to create San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV) in 1998.[6] The presence of an online classical music news website (particularly pertaining to a specific local culture) was relatively new at the time, and the site served as a model for various other websites,[2] including the Classical Voice of North Carolina, Classical Voice New England and Classical Voice North America.[6]
Described by Janos Gereben of the San Francisco Classical Voice as an "inspiring gadfly to generations of musicians, audiences, and journalists", Commanday was a music critic, music educator and choral conductor.[3] Among the major music critics of the U.S. West Coast,[1] His career spanned over 50 years and he was unofficially known as the "Dean of the Bay Area's music press corps".[5] Commanday wrote numerous entries for various editions of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the subsequent Grove Music Online.[2] He was president of the Music Critics Association of North America two times,[3] first, from 1981 to 1985.[1] The ASCAP awarded him the Deems Taylor Award for Music Criticism in 1975–1976 and he won the 1975 John Swett Award from the California Teachers Association.[1] Both the Il Cenacolo society and the Harvard Club of San Francisco recognized him as 'citizen of the year'.[3]
In his later years, he continued writing musical essays for publications such as the San Francisco Classical Voice and Classical Voice North America.[7] Commanday died on September 3, 2015, in Oakland, California.[3] He was survived by his wife Mary, as well as daughter Michal, and son David, who conducts the Heartland Festival Orchestra of Peoria, Illinois.[2] Among his stepchildren was the diplomat J. Christopher Stevens, who died in the 2012 Benghazi attack.[2] The Online Archive of California of the California Digital Library contains a substantial collection of papers by Commanday.[8]
