Pianistic education: The pedagogic rigour of the conservatories

Abstract

The present work aims to discuss ideas about the pedagogic rigour of the Brazilian musical conservatories in the 20th Century, emphasizing the ‘Conservatório Musical de São Carlos’, an institution that adopted the pedagogical system of ‘Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo’ – which, in its turn, established a piano education paradigm for the State of São Paulo. The European piano teaching model was throughly disclosed in these institutions, favoring 18th and 19th-century musical repertoire. Some aspects of the incorporation and reproduction of that European model can be identified, such as: the teaching approach, with its contents and methods; aspects connected to social and cultural behaviors; and aspects related to the prestige of the conservatories, its institutional value, represented by the issuing of officially recognized diplomas.
Key-words: Music Education; Piano Pedagogy; Musical Conservatories; Brazil.