Early 20th-Century Recordings in Higher Music Education: An Analysis of the Teachers’ Views

Early 20th-century recordings (ER) offer a unique insight into historical performance practices, yet their role in higher music education remains under-explored. This study investigates how conservatoire teachers understand, use, and conceptualise ER in their pedagogical and artistic practices. Nine instrumental and vocal teachers from a European conservatoire took part in semi-structured interviews, the responses to which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four main categories emerged: documentary value, performance practice, educational application, and educational challenges. Findings reveal a tension between the liberating potential of ER—promoting creativity and awareness of multiple interpretive approaches—and teachers’ reluctance to use them as reference models due to the “anxiety of imitation.” The study argues that integrating ER into conservatoire curricula can enrich learner-centred and constructivist pedagogies, fostering autonomy, historical awareness, and critical engagement with performance traditions. Early recordings could be considered as meaningful resources for music training, stimulating a more balanced dialogue between historical traditions and contemporary constructivist pedagogical needs.