The piano freed Mozart to write piano concertos but it didn't make him a composer. That was something else. However the piano did free the average person to learn the keyboard and think sophisticated aural patterning that was not possible on the Guitar or the Mandolin. The fingers were more durable on the piano than a string and you had all of those chords. The Harpsichord was quiet while the piano roared. The piano was for Libertarian type individuals. Strings required quartets or some type ensemble for harmony and fellowship. The greatest use of pig iron in the 19th century was for piano frames. The organ had chords and keyboard but was limited to big spaces and churches but every home could own a piano and everyone took lessons. Only the voice with words could compete with the piano for the expression of sophisticated ideas. The piano didn't make Mozart but it did allow a flowering of keyboard explorations with orchestras and a leap in the intelligence of the average music listener. An ideal was the piano as the substitute for an orchestra with a singer. There were thousands of masterworks for piano and voice in the 19th century. It would take recordings and the technology of the 20th century to return the audiences to passive mineral type beings who simply valued and experienced basic drives while grunting for novelty. That is one case where the evolution of technology made a mess.
I liked your website and you look wonderful Mike. Good to see your face again. REH -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Gurstein Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 1:04 PM To: [email protected]; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: [Futurework] FW: Blogpost: Applying the ICT Lessons of Revolt to the Institutional Challenges of Reconstruction: They overthrew Hosni Mubarek, Now Can They Overthrow Robert Michels? http://wp.me/pJQl5-5Z "In this, I think that the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have access to skills and resources which were unavailable to earlier movements that is-the Internet, social networking, mobile telephony and perhaps most important, the experience and knowledge of how to use these in support of collective social ends." _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
