By: Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore
bbc.com/culture
"Why Piano-Mania Grips China's Children"
During Chairman Mao’s Chinese cultural
revolution, pianos were destroyed as despised symbols of the Western society.
Today, China is experiencing a classical music revolution by bringing back the piano
into the Chinese culture, once again. Forty million children are learning how
to play the piano. While the European market for piano is declining, China’s
demand is becoming infinite. Ironically, the dean of the International Piano
Academy at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Keng Zhou, began learning the
piano during the cultural revolution on a broken and half destroyed piano. Today,
the Chinese middle class has gained tremendous economic power and can afford
buying brand new instruments for their children. What has changed from the time
that they were destroying pianos as a sign of the bourgeoisie to today, where
students spend four hours practicing piano every day? Many people in the
Chinese society view the piano as a sign of culture and tremendous wealth.
There are also those who were deprived of this opportunity during Mao’s China
and want their children to fulfill their shattered dreams. Critics of China’s
teaching methods believe that Chinese students are rote learners and leave
little room for creativity. These critics hope that in the future, the Chinese children
would play piano more with their heart.
It is horrible to hear that children during Mao's cultural revolution were deprived from learning to play the piano, but thankfully times are changing. It is unclear however, why exactly the pianos were destroyed. What was the point of destroying all the instruments? The comeback of the piano should indeed make musicians more passionate and give a sense of appreciation for the instrument.
ReplyDeleteIt is shocking to hear that children during the revolution were not allowed to learn piano, it is a bit unfortunate. However, it is great that now they are going through a period in which practically every child is learning to play a great instrument. Perhaps many great classical musicians will arise from this time.
ReplyDeleteMusic is an aspect of life that anyone can enjoy. The piano is arguably the most influential and significant musical instrument ever created. Today a large majority of youth show interests in becoming DJs, disregarding the rich and beautiful history created by musical instruments. Will the rest of the world experience a musical revolution, or will we be stuck in an age filled with awfulness?
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable and hard to understand how playing the piano was not allowed for these people during a time period. Playing the piano is beautiful and amazing. It is just hard to imagine not being allowed to do such a thing. Finally the Chinese culture will be able to experience what they have been missing out on. Listening and playing the piano calms a person down and I am sure it can help reduce stress in people's lives.
ReplyDeleteMusic should be apart of everyone's life no matter what kind of instrument or beat. It is very hard to understand why piano's would be restricted in China at one point. The piano is a great instrument that can play off many different emotions. Any instrument is amazing when properly played. To take away the chance to learn how to play one of the most popular instruments around the world is not fair. It is a great thing that China is able to go through this musical revolution and bring back this beautiful instrument.
ReplyDelete