22 - Les mondes de la musique
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Danièle Pistone
Piano and French music press (18th-21st centuries)
Le Temps des médias n°22, Printemps 2014, p. 24-34.
The 19th century knew a golden age of the French press, when at the same time the piano became the beloved instrument of the bourgeoisie. Such a concomitance needed to be investigated. Based on a recent panorama of about 4.000 music periodicals, the present article shows how the piano, seen through this prism, reflects same national trends, why the titles devoted to this instrument hardly struggled to survive, and which were or are currently the conditions of their success. The place and function of the piano have surely evolved from the 18th century to the present -when digital keyboard oft replaced the acoustic instrument- but most of the characteristics of theses journalistic texts remain the same in their intention, from the first pianistic periodical (Le Pianiste, 1833-1835) to the to-day French magazines (Piano, Pianiste…) ; it is an old advice : both entertain and educate the reader.