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Minor Fossil's avatar

I've been thinking of the same thing you were except for music. It's amazing (but also really obvious) to think that before the technology to record music, the only way to listen to music was at a live performance. But that performance may be the only time you would hear that specific piece of music.

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Oliver Picken's avatar

Yep and it’s interesting to think about how many of the icons of the classical music canon (think Bach, Mozart, Beethoven), died penniless and whose music was only rediscovered years later through scholarly research. There are still many ambiguities as to how to perform some of these pieces because of the difference in conventions and standards of the time. (HIP = Historically Informed Performance) Recording technology for sure helps the long term preservation of an artist and their work.

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Minor Fossil's avatar

Yes, it’s all really interesting.

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