ated ▁conduct or ▁Hans ▁Rich ter ▁for ▁his ▁old - f ashion ed ▁and ▁un ad vent ur ous ▁programming ; ▁and ▁critic ised ▁the ▁or chestra ' s ▁poor ▁standard ▁of ▁performance . ▁His ▁tren chan cy ▁cost ▁him ▁his ▁job , ▁and ▁he ▁left ▁Manchester ▁the ▁following ▁year , ▁succeeded ▁by ▁Samuel ▁Lang ford , ▁and ▁moved ▁back ▁to ▁B irmingham ▁as ▁music ▁critic ▁of ▁The ▁B irmingham ▁Post . ▁The ▁Guardian ▁later ▁said ▁of ▁this ▁period ▁in ▁his ▁career , ▁" At ▁B irmingham ▁he ▁was ▁at ▁his ▁best , ▁p ung ent ▁every ▁morning ▁about ▁the ▁latest ▁singer ▁or ▁f idd ler , ▁quick ▁to ▁value ▁a ▁new ▁work , ▁while ▁every ▁week ▁he ▁turned ▁his ▁Monday ▁article ▁into ▁an ▁exc iting ▁deb ating - ground ." ▁ ▁During ▁his ▁B irmingham ▁years ▁he ▁wrote ▁studies ▁of ▁Richard ▁Stra uss ▁( 1 9 0 8 ), ▁Edward ▁El gar ▁( 1 9 0 6 ), ▁Hugo ▁Wolf ▁( 1 9 0 7 ) ▁and ▁Richard ▁Wagner ▁( 1 9 1 4 ). ▁His ▁Hugo ▁Wolf ▁remained ▁the ▁only ▁English ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁composer ▁for ▁more ▁than ▁forty ▁years ▁and ▁achieved ▁the ▁distinction ▁of ▁being ▁translated ▁and ▁published ▁in ▁Germany . ▁ ▁The ▁Times ▁said ▁of ▁his ▁ 1 9 1 4 ▁Wagner ▁book , ▁" H is ▁enorm ous ▁adm iration ▁for ▁the ▁artist ▁and ▁his ▁cont empt ▁for ▁the ▁man ▁were ▁set ▁out ▁in ▁Wagner ▁as ▁Man ▁and ▁Art ist , ▁a ▁powerful ▁book ▁ex as per ating