> > Yes, I'm sure. But the average person was more
> *musically* educated during
> > some of those time periods.
> Are you sure of that??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I think
> you're referring to the
> elite only, and then I must agree.
During the 1800s and early 1900s, the upper classes
were extremely well musically educated. But the
middle class was, also.
Etiquette manuals aimed at the middle classes
constantly stressed that every young girl should be
able to (sew, cook, etc.) play piano music both at
sight and from memory, and usually to either sing
along or play another instrument such as the harp.
Not just the elite -- the substantial and ever-growing
(thanks to the Industrial Revolution) middle class.
And those were women, who were much more poorly
educated than men.
I doubt that the majority of middle-class women in
America today can play a piano piece from sight (or at
all).
Isabelle B.
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Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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