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Listen to 5 Minutes of Classical Music in a School in Timișoara
Radio Timișoara reporter Alexandra Didilescu went to a school in Timișoara to capture the reactions of teachers and students alike.
"Music, to me, is an extraordinary thing. It was created so you can express your feelings freely and diffently. It fills you with joy and happiness: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert and the recently descovered Ludovico Einaudi."
"To me, music is life, it means a lot, especially classical music. You get bored of mainstream music eventually. It ceases being interesting after a while but the classics always have something to offer."
It is surprizing that 10 to 12 year-oldsare able to talk this way about music, and not just any kind of music but classical music. The great composers and their immoral arias are accessible to them; what's more they have become a necessary stop on their journey to adolescence and adulthood. The students of Middle School Nr. 18 in Timișoara listen to classical music once a weak and are then encouraged to share their opinion, compare and say what the arias made them feel, as music teacher, Francisca Paidac put it:
"I notice that in the classroom, the students are a little reluctant at first because not all of them has the opportunity of being introduced to this genre by their parents at home from an early age. However, if we add captivating songs with outstanding melody and strong rhythms to our program, we can get them to listen to them and enjoy them and maybe in time embed them in their memory so that whenever they listen to them again they will happy that they know what a classical work of value sounds like. Whether or not there will be educated and cultivated young people among us in the future who are open to art all comes down to us and how thoroughly we work."
The future is built from every second of the present, and even though they are not thinking it, the children know what is best for them at that age and that classical music enriches them.
"It makes you feel like you are in an old-fashioned ballroom, during the time of princes and dukes; like you're there dancing surrounded by other people who are also dancing."
"Music makes people feel things, like happiness, sadness, like in Leoncavallo's La Commedia e Finita, when everything ends."
"Music makes me forget all my troubles. It calms me down. Music enlightens people and the world would be a better place if everyone would sing or listen to music."
"The music we listen to on the radio sounds the same all the time. Classical music is different."
"My parents don't really listen to classical music. They mostly listen to hip-hop or manele but during music class our teacher happened to play some classical music on her laptop. I listened and realized I liked it very much."
And the teacher do seem open toand encourage the ideea of listening to classical music during class hours. The deputy principal of Middle School Nr. 18, Timișoara, Mariana Stanciu had this to say:
"This project is a welcomed opportunity for the school and the age groups attending, that is primary and middle-school pupils. The music teacher has really managed to get the kids involved through her music class activities and by getting the children to listen to them as well as through her musical knowledge that she possesses and shares with the children. They easily take it in and even lean towards this genre even though we know it is a bit difficult at their age. Of course, it makes friendlier, more human, calmer and more pleasant."
Calming, relaxing, vital, educational. Each child found their own way to describe classical music. However they all agreed on the same answer to the question 'Do we need music'?
'Yes', they said unanimously.
"Listen to 5 Minutes of Classical Music" is a project started in 2010 and which takes twice a year. It was started and is organized by Cristina Comandașu, deputy editor-in-chief of Radio Romania Music.
Translated by Manea Florin
MTTLC, Bucharest University