One thing my roomies and I have noticed about our apartment is that it’s not very soundproof. We can hear people stomping through the hallway sometimes and we can hear people talking if they’re talking loudly. However, sometimes we hear nice sounds through our thin walls. One of the best noises that we often hear is piano music from the apartment upstairs. Somebody up there practices most afternoons and it’s so pleasant to hear the piano music drifting down from the third floor. I like to listen to it when I’m studying. Somehow it motivates me and lets me feel that something is right in the world. I love it.
I was thinking today when I heard our piano-playing neighbor, how sad it is that music like that isn’t appreciated anymore. Nowadays we have rock bands and rap, and plenty of guitar music- and I like all of that, but wasn’t it nice and peaceful when people were entertained simply by piano music? I think it’s delightful in Jane Austen’s books when the characters retire to the parlor and gather around the piano in the evenings. Musical talent was valued so highly that a girl wasn’t considered fully educated if she couldn’t play the piano.
Now, I took piano lessons when I was younger and discovered that I had very little musical talent, so I can’t say that everyone should be able to play a musical instrument. I just think that more people should make an effort- especially if they spend hours downloading music or listening to songs on their I-pods. Why not actually develop your own musical skills? It seems to me that in this day and age we’re more obsessed with keeping track of the latest celebrities rather than developing our own talents and interests. I know I'm as guilty of this as anyone, but I'm going to try to expand my musical and artistic interests because I feel like the classical arts are so under appreciated. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the piano music as a rare and beautiful treat.
Click here to listen to some beautiful piano music.
Oh, brava! I'm so proud of you. Very trenchant observations. We do watch everyone else develop their talents instead of developing ours, thanks to our over-dependence on technology.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that all people back in Austen's day were all that entertained by piano--I think for many, it was a social requirement, i.e., they had to at least pretend to appreciate music in order to be sociable. Many people, such as men, weren't musically accomplished at all.
I do wish we could go back to the time where everybody gathered around with each other in the evenings to interact in ways unmediated by technology, like listening to people play live music, playing cards together, staging charades, etc. I'm going to do everything I can to throw little soirees that encourage these very things, once I move. :)
Maybe it was just a social requirement for some, but I'm sure others had a genuine interest in the arts. I wish it was still encouraged and valued so highly.
ReplyDeleteI think people today fail to truly interact with each other. We gather to watch movies or TV, we go to sporting events and concerts, we go out to bars or clubs. Which of those is a meaningful interaction where you get to talk to and know someone on a deeper level?