V.com weekend vote: How much do you know about the history/context of the music you play?
It's easy to get so involved in learning how to play music, that one forgets to learn or to even think about its history, context and background.
To be fair, "it sounds nice and I like the way it makes me feel" is certainly a good enough reason to learn a piece of music.
Or, "we're playing it this week in orchestra, I need to learn the notes, lickety-split."
But knowing the history and some contextual facts not only can enhance one's feeling toward the music, but also inform one's approach.
I admit, I can be guilty of "not-knowing." I get very busy, learning orchestra music. Sometimes I just get the chart, look for the difficult passages and start sawing away. Not always, of course, when I have more time I usually create a playlist and listen. Since I've been doing this for decades and have a music degree, I come to the table with a lot of information about the "classics." But for completely new or seldom-played pieces - I often discover these details closer to the day of the performance, as they are revealed in rehearsal or when I actually get a view of the program notes.
With my students, I feel responsible a their guide, so I'm more proactive about dropping historical context into their lessons as they learn the fingerings, bowings and other techniques required. That said, it's easy to forget to do that, when a piece requires a great deal of focus on technique.
So I will throw the question to you: How much do you typically know about the history and context of music you play? Do you find yourself learning music without having the benefit of a wider context? Are you a longtime musician who simply knows a lot from past education and experience? Are you proactive about looking up the history and notes about pieces that are new to you? Do you have a teacher, conductor or mentor who is especially good about sharing this information? Do you actually find it a distraction, to go into history and context? Please participate in the vote, and then share your thoughts!
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Replies
There is a reason why students doing performance degrees are required to take music history.
I have to say, though, that what I have learned through the years by experience and by seeking knowledge has stuck with me much more than the academic study.
History and context are important to me. I had a relatively late introduction to classical music via classical radio, so I appreciate the historical context I've gotten from good radio hosts. I've also found that one of the best ways to get the new listeners interested is by sharing pieces with interesting stories behind them, and historical context is often a good way to get people interested in lesser-known music.
I usually look up every piece on the next orchestra season within days after it's announced. I usually know enough that I could write program notes for the concert by the time of the first rehearsal, even if there are obscure pieces on the program.
My choices of chamber music and solo repertoire are at least somewhat influenced by the history and context of the piece, so usually I've already read up on candidate pieces before I commit to working on them. In particular, when it comes to chamber music, I'm in a piano quartet where everyone has a similar interest in music history, historical performance practices, and the connections between composers and pieces. At the moment we're working on the Andreas Hallen Op. 3 piano quartet for a January house concert, and one factor in our choice was its close relation to the Rheinberger piano quartet we played last January. Hallen composed it while he was Rheinberger's student, at the exact same time Rheinberger was composing his quartet.
I just rely on general historical and musical background-reading and 60 years of listening to the Third Programme, which became Radio 3 in 1967. Plus conductors usually give a little chat before the first rehearsal. The last one we had was that Borodin was a chemist and that his scores revealed a precision that might have been typical of a chemist but didn't stifle his artistry. For what that's worth.
There's a closed thread about myths.
When I was 11 or 12 my neighbour told me Bach went blind because he worked so hard by candlelight. That's one kind of context (I must find time to read the lives of the great composers). But now I am informed that Bach was fat, and diabetes probably took away both his eyesight and his life.
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October 12, 2025 at 09:42 PM · I usually know a lot about the music I play - and the music I listen to. Even before the 2 years of music history I had as part of my degree program, I already had a curious, inquiring mind and had done considerable reading on this subject before high school.
The symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms are examples. I learned a good deal, on my own, of the composers' whereabouts and life experiences when they penned these masterpieces.
The Tchaikovsky 6 (Pathétique) is another example. I first heard this piece at 7 y/o and got hooked on it fast. Some details I remember reading soon afterward: The composer was dissatisfied, initially, with how the orchestration was shaping up. Audience reception at the premiere was mixed. The composer died about a week after the premiere. Later I read that he made some post-premiere tweaks to the score, and that this retouched version is what audiences now hear.