[1773] All symphonies, all concertos, quartets, sonatas, and solos always leave us to wander around in undefined emotions of happiness and sadness; and when a piece is over, you can still ask, as did the famous Fontenelle: “Sonate, que me veux tu?”

[1786] Instead, there is a clarinet solo with bassoons, which in and of itself isn't bad; but the way it appears here, you cannot help but ask: “que me veux tu?”

[1792] The remaining five sonatas are worth about the same, that is, they can pass as divertimentos, etc. But if they are considered as sonatas, then the famous question would be appropriate: “Sonate, que veux tu de moi?”

Hamburgischer Correspondent (1790): Jean Bliesenet's Trois Duos pour deux Violons.

The first duet in G major begins with something exquisite. It appears to be an imaginative introduction that touches on different leading tones in the space of eleven measures, and only then turns to the actual scale, which is abandoned two measures later. The composer's genius shows itself most clearly in this duet; only occasionally does it burst forth too much.

Musikalische Monatsschrift (1792): Schwencke's Drei Sonaten and Trois Sonates.

The composer can certainly be trusted to separate the good and beautiful things in this early work from the less good, to cut out, of his own accord, the stormy confusion of his youthful Phantasie, which – unconcerned about strict unity – lets flow an abundance of ideas for good or ill, just as they present themselves.

Neue Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen (1773): Johann Friedrich Doles's Sechs Sonaten

To his credit … [the sonatas] do not betray a slavishly imitative spirit, but one that thinks for itself, one that is inventive, lively and pleasant … The things that a strict harmonist might find to criticize here are minor careless mistakes that can be forgiven in a dilettante or excused by fashion. It is always wrong to make too much ado about such trifling matters that can be easily avoided with a little attention. A work of the soul isn't beautiful simply because certain artistic judges find nothing to criticize, especially when those judges only pay attention to the mechanical compliance with the rules and close their eyes to the true signs of a passionate and richly inventive genius.

Gothaische gelehrte Zeitungen (1774): Wolf's Sei Sonate

The keyboard works of a Bach or a Benda have always been the very best a dilettante could own, but now he can confidently add the sonatas of Herr Wolf to them: the same passionate invention! The same novelty, the same audacity of ideas and turns of phrase! Soft and cantabile spots placed between ones that roll and spring; unexpected surprising modulations! And all of that combined with absolutely correct Harmonie in the true, idiomatic style.

Neue Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen (1766): Christian Ernst Rosenbaum, Sechs Sonaten.

Given the pitiful appearance this composer makes, we didn't know whether to pity or look down on him. We would gladly do the former, if we thought there were any chance that he might improve. But it appears that all hope is in vain, because the chastisement we gave him about his song melodies did so little good that he is now daring to come forth with a half dozen sonatas that are even more miserable than his songs. How empty of ideas! What incorrect phrasing! Now a beat too many, now one too few! And the mistakes in Harmonie! Parallel fifths and octaves everywhere! And what about good modulation, what about the relationship of related keys to the main key? Even the ear of a Hottentot would be able to sense how unnatural most of this is. You stagger about from one key to the next, only to discover in astonishment that the piece, when the page is full, cadences again in the tonic. How masterful! … The only good thing that we can find to say about these sonatas is that they are short and didn't waste more than six sheets of paper.

Wöchentliche Nachrichten (1769): Friedrich Schwindl, Six Simphonies.

[In the first symphony], the first movement was pleasant and passionate; the varied shadings and the modulations were effective. But then came a stiff, sluggish Andante, which did have some movement in the middle voices, but was so nonotonous begining to end that it went nowhere. […]

[1768] [Marpurg's Historisch-kritische Beiträge and his Kritische Briefe] have had a good effect, in that music has begun to be viewed as a science again, one that can be judged just like other sciences can. In critical and scholarly journals it is being given its proper place alongside other scholarly things. In this area the Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek deserves special praise. The Leipziger gelehrten Zeitungen has likewise taken up the task of announcing and evaluating newly published writings and works that pertain to music.

[1769] What does the Leipziger Zeitungen do for musical criticism? It judges music rarely and usually superficially.

[1778] Herr Forkel has undertaken the useful business of making musical works known through criticism … still a rather fallow field in need of cultivation, and one more worthy than many others … One writes for the learned and the unlearned; and the large number of the latter, whose approval must nonetheless be considered here, often requires a moderate use of reflective thought and a demonstrative writing style.

[1795] At a time when our book catalogs are nearly half filled with magazine titles, it would be tragic for music lovers not to find a single musical journal that in some way continues the thread of its history. To keep this from happening, three different journals in Berlin (which is full of music lovers) recently tried out various formats – a weekly, a monthly, and finally a newspaper. But for naught! Each new attempt failed. The last didn't even last a year. […]