Dwight’s Journal of Music

Abstract Dwight founded his eponymous Dwight’s Journal of Music in 1852. Although there has long been a certain romanticism that accompanies the notion that Dwight founded the Journal out of desperation, that notion belies two characteristics that he possessed in abundance: a spirit of entrepreneurialism and the ability to spot a business opportunity. As he grew as a businessman, he also grew as a critic. Dwight was influenced by European writers and periodicals, none more than English critic Henry F. Chorley and Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, one of Germany’s leading music publications. Within Dwight’s small circle of friends and supporters, Dwight’s Journal was an immediate hit. But others implored him to banish from its pages “German mysticism and Boston transcendentalism.” Changes for the better—and for the worse—occurred in April 1859, when Dwight’s Journal commenced publication under the auspices of Oliver Ditson & Company.