LSAT 21, Section 4, RC Passage 1, London Pianoforte School

RC Passage 1 Explanation

Paragraph Summaries

1. Music from the London Pianoforte school is hard to find in modern scholarly editions. The Pianoforte school helped create the piano.
2. Temperley’s new anthology fills this gap. It will help us better understand the evolution of the piano.
3. The Pianoforte “school” may not have been a true musical school. They were just a group who happened to play piano in London at the time.
4. There is some support for calling the London pianists a school. They influenced Beethoven. But it’s likely better to classify them by time.

Analysis

This passage has a dual structure. The first half of the passage tells us a bit about the Pianoforte school, and explains that Temperley’s anthology has filled a critical gap in our knowledge of their music.

The second half of the passage debates whether the Pianoforte school was a true school.

The first half of the passage is the most important. The author is quite certain that Temperley’s contribution is important. The author is less certain about whether the “school” was a school.

We can also tell that the “school” question is less important because Temperley is mentioned in every paragraphh, while the nature of the school is never mentioned until paragraph 3.

Note: An anthology of music is a collection of musical works. There’s no theory in an anthology, or there doesn’t need to be. Many wrong answers assume that Temperley has produced a new theory. Temperley commented on the nature of the Pianoforte school, but a comment isn’t a theory.