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Dear Gabriele -
Culture is informed, or rather, formed, by the ways and the places in which we live. This holds true especially for the performing arts. We started this Music Monday blog in March 2020 when all of us were trying to figure out how to not lose our connections. We wanted to find a way to continue to be able to fulfill the deeply human need to make and share the experience of music. For the Dranoff2, it was also a way to give a personal platform to the wonderful artists of our extended family.
On this particular Monday the United States celebrates Labor Day, and we want to share examples of both the classical music to come out of the culture change from the Industrial Revolution and how work could bring such enormous pressures to the human physical body and soul.
The industrial revolution in Europe and in the United States brought rapid growth of both production and population. New technology enabled mass produced musical instruments, especially of pianos. Until the 19th century much music had been a private possession of the wealthy. Now, the newly created large class of industrial wealth demanded ways to show their new status. Pianos became a must-have prized possession for large numbers of society, and piano music became the most popular instrumental music of the time.
People wanted to hear the music publicly in places where they could be seen to enjoy culture. New concert halls were built which presented composers and newly commissioned works. From this arose some of the great piano compositions of that era from composers like Chopin and Liszt.
Mass production made it possible that an art form thought to be an inferior to poetry and sculpture became elevated as the highest art and culture. Music became understood to express what words could not; thus it was thought to transcend the other art forms
It is transcendence and the work of the great artist and their music that Dranoff2 presents in our brand new 2022/2023 season, with representation and history of the music that comes to us from the backgrounds of our major populations here in Miami
The season begins on September 14 in partnership with the Coral Gables Art Cinema presenting Josephine Baker and the great black jazz composers performed live by duo Angel Perez and Devin Shaw. It will be followed by a panel discussion on the historical representation of Black artists in the performing arts.
Please join us and wear what makes you happy*!
Warmly,
Gabriele Fiorentino
President,
The Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation
Piano Slam
*Footnote: White was the attire of choice for Americans well-to-do enough to decamp from their city during the hot months. Light summer clothing provided a pleasing contrast to drabber urban life, "a look of leisure” only the wealthy could afford. At the end of the season, those whites were put away, signaling the end of summer. However, per Yves St. Laurent, those of us lucky enough to live in the tropics, can and should wear white whenever we feel like it There you have it!
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