What Did They Play?: The Changing Repertoire of the Piano Recital from the Beginnings to 1980

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THE STORY OF THE EMERGENCE of the piano recital from the almost circus-like environment of early 19th-century musical entertainments and its transformation into one of the most serious and uniquely personal types of musical experience is well known.' What has been less explored is the structure and content of the recital. What have the recitalists played; what types of solo piano works; how many and which composers; in what sort of overall structure? What changes in such features have there been over time?

This article addresses such questions by analysing a small sample of the nearly 15,000 recital repertoires compiled by George Kehler in his book The piano in concert, published …