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Now, Once More with Feeling

Jacquelyn Suter

Youre still holding back go for it. These would be the words of Isaac Stern, violin maestro, to agroup of young Chinese students of western music. And, it would be the year 1979, just threeyears after the end of Chinas Cultural Revolution in which all things foreign was categoricallytossed out. Decadent western music was among the first to go.

So, maybe its not surprising that these kids were not musically emoting and in touch with their

feelings as we in the west like to so cavalierly put it. Sterns keen ear heard the hold-backimmediately, and he set about trying to change it. Did he succeed? The Academy award-winningdocumentary, From Mao to Mozart, bears delightful witness to the attempt.

This 115-minute DVD is more than a musical encounter between the amazing kids of China andStern. Its an eye-opening journey through the very cultural evolution of this country. And Stern,with his whimsical Cheshire Cat smile, has many surprises in store for himself he most certainlygot as much as he gave.

From Mao to Mozartis actually a three-parter: The first part filmed in 1979 when Stern first went toChina, the second part, his return trip 20 years later, and the last, a sobering interview with thedeputy head of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, relating his harrowing experiences during theCultural Revolution.

Lets begin in 1979. After the Cultural Revolution it was hotly debated, but decided nevertheless,that China would pursue both its own musical traditions and master western forms as well. Hereswhere Stern comes in -- he was invited by the Chinese government to visit Shanghai and Beijing(then called Peking) to interact with, to assist and encourage Chinese students to refine theircurrent knowledge of western musical form.

After going through a number of practice sessions, Stern wonders why the 17-20 year olds wereplaying more wooden than the young ones, age 8-11. The older students were technicallyproficient, but there was no life to their music. The Chinese were not shy in explaining that the

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reason for this lack was that the older students study was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution(1966-76), a time when playing western music was considered a crime and teachers wereprosecuted.

But post-Cultural Revolution was not the first time that China engaged with western music. TheNew Cultural Movement in the 1910s and 20s started a lot of lasting interest in the westerntradition when Chinese musicians returned from studying abroad. One of the first institutions ofhigher learning of modern music in China was the renowned Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Itwas the premier place to go for study of the western classical canon.

Stern admonishes the students to play notes not in isolation, to anticipate the entire musical lineand, most importantly, to play from the heart. In another retort, he reminds that the violin is a partof the body use it like that.

When we see one of the top students, a boy of about 9 or 10 playing the cello, Wang Jian by name,we know hes got the idea. His face is almost contorted with feeling; hes deeply involved inproducing an incredibly beautiful piece. His instrument and his body/soul are one. Did he get allthis solely from Sterns nudging, or had he already learned it from his Chinese professors who,themselves, had known it from a long tradition of Chinese music?

Its much too easy to fall into the trap of thinking west = emotionally expressive and east =emotionally restrained. Researching a bit of Chinese musical history, I found a Chinese professorof music, Liu Fang, saying that the perfection of playing technique is not enoughfree the mindsuch that the performer becomes the instrument. Further, that between musician and audiencethere is a dynamical and heart-to-heart process. And again, one phrase in Chinese classicalmusic is not simply a string of notes, but each note has its own life and meaning. This approachhas always been a part of classical Chinese music. Now compare these quotes to Sterns.

When Stern and his son David, now a full-fledged conductor in his own right, return to China twentyyears later in 1999, they meet some of these same gifted children that they tutored in 1979. Davidconducts the Central Philharmonic in Beijing with Wang Jian on cello and another former childprodigy, Vera Tsu, as first violinist. This is an amazing performance, with a totally enrapturedChinese audience. You will be too.

In The Gentleman From Shanghai, the third part of the DVD, Prof. Tan Shuzhen relates hisamazing life as the deputy head of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As a young man, he wasthe first Chinese to play in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, at that time exclusively the domainof foreign artists who were connected to their countrys respective concessions in the city. Eventoday, The Bund along Shanghais waterfront reminds us of this former colonial dominance.

During the Cultural Revolution, Tan was imprisoned for 14 months in a room no larger than acloset. His crime being a western music teacher. His job during that time cleaning toilets. Tanhappened to have a strong will to survive, but some of his colleagues were not so lucky. Eighteenof his Conservatory colleagues committed suicide in the face of unbearable humiliation anddegradation by the Red Guards.

Tan Shuzhen died recently at age 95. At a former time, he had penned these words, music is likeair and water I cannot imagine a life without it.

Likewise at some former time, Chairman Mao had told the leader of the Musicians Association thatwhen foreign things are assimilated they must be transformed and become Chinese.

So tell mehow exactly do you play Mozart so that it becomes Chinese?

Written for AUA Library, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2009