Hi everyone, firstly I would like to thank you all of you who has invoved in reading my topics/music in the past.

I have a question to ask every ones opnion about the popularity of piano recital as now days vs classical-pre 1890 period. I came up with a conclusion that in old days there werent any radio station or instrument that plays recorded music as compared to modern days(digital recording).

In the old days, the majority of population found music or salon reictal in hall/small gathering places
as part of sociel life. Therefore, piano was one of the main focus. I would say, at the time there are more people owning piano per population as compared to now days( correct me if i am wrong).

But only FEW musicians were produced during the old days, therefore, this allows them to be more popular and as a result of creating there own fame. since there wernt any radio stations or commuicatoin devices, a small group recital is allowed. The competition between the musicians were less fierce as compared to now days.

These days, there are more varities in music, there fore the main focus of each group is higly diversified or I would say- diffused. As a result, you become less famous and less popular. The classical music is overtaking by the modern music(pop, rocks...XXX).

Whats your say????

just like men not wearing overcoats and top hats and women no longer wear corsessts (i have french words)....society is changing with "new" and "improved" ways of life. Oh well, that means the only way to avoid it is to lock yoursefl up in the 'drawing room and play lovely piano tunes to a select group of high nobility.

It's sad for us who like the music which is declining. But I am certain that it will never get to a point that it is lost forever! Maybe it will just take a back seat to "pop" culture. Nevertheless, classical music is timeless and elegant. It will never lose its power, unlike modern music (just think 1980s early 90's popular music...I no longer hear most of the bands on the radio today. Because it is superfiscial and will be lost to the test of time, whereas Mozart, Bach, etc. will always be the pinnicle of music geniusness)

-JG

I have some very strong feelings about this, so here I go.

You know, I was one of the few piano majors at the college of music I attended who knew that Beethoven wrote 32 Sonatas. I thought that fact would have been common knowledge amongst young pianists; sadly this was not the case. My classmates had a strong knowledge base in music theory and were technically proficient, but were relatively clueless when it came to identifying the great works of standard literature. I think this is due to the homogenizing effect of the muli-media, multi-tasking culture. Today's youth is served a glut of generic 'disposable' music, which for the most part consists of audial/visual titillation sans art, whilst being frenetically transported from one mindless extracurricular activity to another. Ironically, the classics are treated as a pointless waste of time, or even seen as somehow abnormal. Piano lessons are often crammed in between the substanceless social pagentries which increasingly dominate our way of life; quantity of is falsely perceived as superlative to quality.
(I won't even get into the topic of the state of today's young professional artists.)

I'm not sure what the solution is, or even if one exists. The responsibility falls to us, the enlightened pianists, to pass the torch. Whether we are accepted as mainstream or not, is beside the point.

Pete

thanks to you both. I am purist in music, so as Pete. I happened to have a full collection of beetovens sonata not thro the knowledge of university. Yes, there are only few noblities in pianist. Thats why the Chopin society is for...meanwhile its in the air.

This makes me think about what I read about Rachmaninov - apparently he was not aware that Schubert wrote any Sonatas
So what's new, really ......

haha thats funny..but yeh, i agree that piano recitals are definitely going into decline...i mean, the likes of eisteddfords are everywhere, where there can be piano recitals but i guess that the main aim is the prize...sad..

when there is recitals, most people there are older people (ok not always the case but im generalising) which is sad cos it means that classical piano is definitely not too popular..i would know, im in that generation/age...of course it is probably different in different countries, but i'd have to say that most people whom i associate have no idea about classical stuff and dont appreciate it...haha its so good when you can talk to people who know what you're talking about...i miss that sort of conversation.....

there's definitely so much difference from a live recital to a recording..much more exciting tho i guess not many younger people know about that. people around that age pretty much dont even get the oppourtunity to listen to live classical music or when they do, they already have predetermined ideas of classical music..if they learnt just how skilled classical music is, and everything, they would

Sorry I'm late on this one. Just saw it today.



I'm not sure about this. Pianos were a luxury in the older days, and therefore not in all homes. And if they had a piano, it was played. Today, I see a piano in almost everybody's house, mostly uprights, though. Sadly, many times the piano is just a piece of furniture to put family pictures on. Nobody in the home actually plays it.
But obviously, this is also a matter of demographics. I am fortunate to live in an upper-middle class area and people freely spend money on having nice things in their homes, including a piano. There's many piano teachers here and all of them have many students.

Which brings around the point that because their are so many piano students here, there are many piano recitals and they are attended by whole families, young and old. You hear everything from jazz to pop, but classical piano is still alive and well too.

many friends are 15 or 16 years and when I first told them that I love to play classical music they thought I was crazy but when they heart the pieces the most of them liked them. They don't say anymore classical music is boring and I sleep when I hear it or something.

yes, I could be wrong on this aspect, these days more polulation , more piano is produced and more and better pianist than before, not sure about the piano per poluation density.
the competition is fierece(not for me at least) I do it for fun and charity. Therefore, to became fanous like chopin or others is HARDER to acheive...

woo! that is cool lol ..im just wondering, rachmaninoff, what pieces did you play to them? id love to know..or what type of classical...but of course i guess ur culture is different to mine..unless damwoude is in australia (yeh, i checked your profile to see where you were from)...please ignore my ignorance but where exactly is damwoude?...wait the trusty ol wikipedia hehe..netherlands