Transcription of Mozart Sonatas
- #12 K332 in F major (in progress)
Some disclaimers: I think several things happen which lead to the demise of written piano music:
- the record player, the radio, the iPhone give us the illusion of an abundance of music. Really we just hear the same recording over and over. It's the difference between hearing Lady Gaga live or on Spotify. If we listen to her live, it sounds different each time (acoustics, instrumentation, the type of microphone being used, the instrument, etc.). If we listen on YouTube it sounds the same each time we play it.
- Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven wrote a lot of music for amateurs even the Chopin Mazurkas are like that. Music was something we played at home, and produced with our own fingers; so there was a lot of end-user participation. Even if you wanted to hear a concert, there were only a few opportunities to do so (if ever). Now there's thousands of recordings available from my phone.
- Over time, it looks as if music has become more specialized (and therefore more advanced), so there's nothing to reflect regional influences and the signs of the times. Therefore, the rules of music seem really dated, because in order to get those insights, we also have to accept their rhythm and melody choices as well. Well-Tempered Clavier was written between 1720 and 1750. The way music got around was just completely different.
I am not a musicologist and some of this is just my opinion. If the PDF's do not render properly you should try downloading them. Something wrong with Github's rendering machine.