Sonata in C Major

Why are you seeing this post today? There's two reasons why. First of all, I've kept coming back to the thought that I haven't added anything here since Together Forever in.... when was it? Probably August. I didn't want any of you to think that I had permanently gotten stuck in 1987 after posting that.

Secondly, I've heard reports that one can never tell when this sonata is going to end -- it seems like it's "going on forever." Since I'm the one who learned all the different parts, I have to know in my head where the end of the song is, so I'm not really the best person to comment on that. I want to know what you think, as the listener.

Third of all, we're coming up to the day when Tea with Liya will have been open for 5 years (since November 8, 2017). In fact, I thought at first that the 5-year mark was going to be November 15th or 16th, but then I realized it was coming up on Tuesday! So it's a good thing that I'm adding this song now. It wouldn't be right for me, out of all people, to miss the 5-year mark, right?

Listen to the song here
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Speaking of anniversary dates, you might be surprised to know that in Western music history, the lives of specific musicians were used as the sole factors for when certain periods began and ended. For example, J. S. Bach is now considered the greatest musician of the Baroque period. (During that time, instruments became more important in music. Before then, music had been focused almost solely on groups of singers.) Currently, the end of this "age of music" is defined as the year when Bach died, 1750. "It's because he was THE musician of that time period," a music teacher would tell you.

Similarly, Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer of this song, is now considered THE musician of the Classical period -- the greatest innovator of that time. (This is when most of our popular sonatas and symphonies were written. In fact, a good portion of them were written by him.) Therefore, the end of the Classical period is usually placed around 1827, the year when Beethoven died.

Without these musicians, historians will say, the music of those time periods would have been completely different, so it makes sense to define certain years as being important because of them. Of course, we might only have this perspective because we're looking back. Most classical musicians who are famous now weren't recognized among the public while they were alive. We didn't even have the concept of "star musicians" being idolized by the public until Franz Liszt came along and impressed everyone with his piano playing.

Now, when we're talking about modern music, we tend to define much smaller time periods -- the 60s, 70s, or 80s. And even within those decades, there were many different types of music being created. Therefore, certain years are more important to some people than others. One person might be celebrating now because it's been 35 years since they first saw their favorite singer on TV. Meanwhile, someone else might have considered 2021 more important because of a jazz album from 1961 that made them think differently. (It must have been unfortunate for everyone looking forward to 2020 because of an anniversary event -- especially those who were expecting concerts from their favorite musicians.)

Hundreds of years from now, people will be able to look at the music we're listening to now from the perspective of a much larger period of time, and they'll probably come up with new descriptions for it. Some years might be written down in books with clear statements like, THE SONG(S) RELEASED IN THIS YEAR (or the artist(s) that started their careers in this year) CHANGED MUSIC. Others might be completely forgotten. Or it could become a lot harder to objectively determine what years were important, since that depends on what kind of music you're considering.

Since we're in 2022 now, we can't know for sure yet whether 2022 will make it to the list. That's a good question to ask once the 2000s are said and done. (By the way, I'm referring to the hundred years, not the thousand. We need a way to write down the difference between "the 10 years starting in 2000," "the 100," and "the 1000.") What we can do now is be glad that we've been filling our teacups with music for the last 5 years. I haven't put mine down yet.

Don't put yours down, either.
~Liya