Harold C. Schonberg

Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions to The New York Times, where he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the first music critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

An influential critic, he is noted for his "crisp, often staccato style that gave his evaluations unequivocal clarity and directness", and his encouragement of Romantic music and of pianists like Sviatoslav Richter. He wrote several books, notably The Lives of the Great Composers. He also reviewed crime fiction under the alias Newgate Callendar and wrote about chess. A collection of his columns was published as Facing the Music.