Piano and the Age of Revolution

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

J.S. Bach was two years old when Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). This work became the capstone of the Scientific Revolution which began with Copernican heliocentrism, offering a segue into the Enlightenment period where reason became more important over faith, political system, or traditional convention. Some of Thomas Jefferson’s wordings in the Declaration of Independence were directly influenced by one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers, John Locke, and his Two Treatises of Government (1689).

“…the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions: for men being the workmanship of one omnipotent, and infinitely wise maker…”

John Locke (1632-1704), The Two Treatises of Civil Government

The Age of Reason, and the American War of Independence ignited a series of revolutions and wars of independence across Europe. Chopin’s famous “Revolutionary” Etude, Op. 10-12 is said to have been composed in reaction to the news of the failed Cadet Revolution, a.k.a. November Uprising or Polish-Russian War (1830-31), Polish armed rebellion against the oppressive Russian Empire.

On July 4th, 1776, the day the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Founding Fathers, Mozart was 20 years old, employed by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Hieronymus Colloredo. He found Salzburg and the restrictions placed on his creative freedom by his employer stifling. Another influential composer of the classical period, Joseph Haydn was 44. Beethoven, who was to transform the civil, simple and beautiful music of the classical period into the sublime Romanticism, was five years old.

The Age of Enlightenment promoted individualism. The technological innovations and developments of the Industrial Revolution, along with subsequent urbanization, made a lifestyle in line with individualism more accessible to the growing middle class. The piano embodied the transforming society, and people’s aspiration to become an irreplaceable individual, as a “one-man orchestra.” The piano evolved with remarkable speed, expanding its range, sound volume, size and intricate mechanism within Beethoven’s lifetime (1770-1827). Piano came to symbolize the machine, and piano virtuosos, like Liszt, were seen as heroes conquering that machine. They were also mass-produced to cater to the demand of the growing amateur market. Piano repertoire, performance practice and aesthetic reflect all these historical context.

With all these reflections from the keyboard, is there anything I can do in this year of U.S. Presidential Election? It just so happens, I will perform a recital on the eve of July 4th, and then leave for Athens, the birthplace of democracy.