The (working) first chapter to Greg's book. It's a comical synopsis of piano recital programming told through the perspective of an innocent, 300-year-old fugue.
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The musical world is different today than when either The Cat’s Fugue or Kitten on the Keys entered the scene. Neither piece is performed with any frequency. Popular music, by nature, has the ability to constantly renovate its inventory, and thus interest in Kitten on the Keys was replaced by the newest thing on the market. Scarlatti’s music, let alone The Cat’s Fugue, is performed by concert pianists less today than any decade since the 1840s after Franz Liszt first introduced it into the concert repertoire. Most notably, the piano itself has lost its dominance within the home and the amateur pianist has become a rarity. The professional classical pianist lives a different life, entering a multitude of competitions but performing a pithy number of solo piano recitals. And more often than not, when a cat of today’s world makes its way across a keyboard, not a sound is heard. The keys depressed were either those of an electric piano turned off, or those of a computer with little letters drawn upon them.
Setting: In my bedroom, at dawn. I’m weary eyed and alone at my keyboard.
Enter: My cat.
She stares at me with wide-eyes from the other end of the room. She approaches, jumps atop my desk, and lovingly trots across my computer keys, offering her advice.
CAT: ughnko bnzazccs,m ckdrvp;y56
ME: “Thanks.”
What music do you want to hear on piano recitals? Give your two-cents on the "Audience Advice to Performers" page!
