Music is not a universal language. It’s a shared experience
A week or so ago, I had a fabulously un-classical experience, sitting in the second row at a live performance of the sensational Cuban ensemble, the Buena Vista Orchestra. What struck me (even more than their beaming keyboard player, Andy Abad Acosta, opening with Chopin’s Minute Waltz) was the fact that, despite their expressive faces, their fluid moves and their evocative melodies, something was lost on me due to the fact that I didn’t understand the Spanish lyrics of any of the songs. (Not just lost on me, but lost on the entire audience, who had a decidedly hard time cooperating when the lead singer kept urging the crowd to sing más fuerte to lyrics they could only vaguely mumble.) Sure, you’d have to be living under a rock if, as a modern American, you’re unable to catch the odd “amigo”, “corazon”, “por que” and “amor” – but how does one fully grasp the storytelling aspect of vocal music without understanding the words? The music, alone, is simply not enough.
Why is it then, I asked Bill, back in the PPI office the following Monday, that we so readily refer to music as a language? Can we truly consider music a system of communication? “Of course not!” quipped Bill with the respectful forbearance of a philosopher. “Have you ever tried ordering a pizza in Piano?”
Indeed, I have not.
Much as we like throwing around the idea of music as a language, even pure instrumental music is not a straightforward medium of communication. What I hear in something and what you hear might not be the same thing at all, and what ultimately defines the message you receive in any piece of music will ultimately depend on your unique, individual cocktail of personality and taste.
What the team at PPI can tell you, however, is that after 47 years of passionate commitment to the piano recital business, we know for sure what live music is: a one-of-a-kind shared experience.
And whether some of the nuances are lost on you, due to linguistic limitations, unfamiliarity with the instrument, the period, the history … that isn’t ultimately the point. At the Buena Vista Orchestra show in Revolution Hall, the entire (non-Spanish-speaking) audience were on their feet by the end of the evening. When you come to a recital with PPI – be it our Timeless recital with Evren Ozel on September 7th, our Boundless recital with Anderson & Roe on October 14th, or any of our carefully curated events on the 2025/2026 calendar, we want you to feel like you’ve somehow lived through something wonderful by spending time with us! Whether you gravitate towards the playful musical masquerade of Schumann’s Carnaval (on Evren’s September program) or the endlessly inventive antics of Anderson & Roe (have you ever heard Daft Punk on two pianos?!), we guarantee you one thing: It sure isn’t pizza. But gosh, it’s PIANO!