Playing music from the past would only be ethically wrong if you claimed to have written it. To preserve my conscience, if I were to perform music from the past, I would find a way to communicate that the works performed were not my own. If you were to somehow claim the rights to the music you were performing nd profit from something you did not create, that would be ethically wrong, especially if you were unable to do the original works justice. If all music from the past was erased from existence, I would probably try to perform songs by some of my favourite bands such as the Beatles or Nirvana on my guitar, as those are the only songs I could remember completely. I could try to play some piano songs such as Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor Op.9 No.1, but I would most likely be unable to do it complete justice. I fully agree with the Nietzsche quote; I believe that unless you try your hardest to leave yourself out of the music you are performing, you will be unwittingly taking ownership of the music rather than leaving it in the past. I agree with the sentiment that you can only interpret the past with a present mindset, and you can never fully recapture it.

 

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