Classical Notes: June 27, 2008 Archive

"Piano Fever" in China

Posted at 11:26 AM on June 27, 2008 by Gillian Martin (1 Comments)

Here's an interesting article about the passion for piano that has gripped China. It's fueled by a growing urban middle class who have the disposal income for a piano and lessons, and parents who want something better for their child than they had:

When they were growing up themselves during the Cultural Revolution, learning the piano was inconceivable. Jiang Qing's Gang of Four saw it as the most dangerous of all Western instruments. The instrument was once compared with a coffin, "a black box in which the notes rattled around like the bones of the bourgeoisie".

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