Interesting Articles
When in Pyongyang

I often speak in class about the many correlations between learning music and learning to speak a language, particularly a tonal language such as Chinese. In preparation for the New York Philharmonic’s historic February 2008 tour to Pyongyang, Korea, acclaimed conductor Lorin Maazel practiced delivering his opening remarks to the audience in Korean without the help of a translator. This wonderful article from the March 3, 2008 New Yorker Magazine describes how he devised his own ingenious method of transliteration which involved writing musical scores to cue him on the pitch, rhythm and cadences of the language. Perhaps the musicians among you can try something similar for learning Chinese.

To read the orignal article in the New Yorker Magazine go to this site:

You can listen to the Pyongyang concert online at the New York Philharmonic's homepage here.

 I have also included a pdf file of the article below, titled "When in Pyongyang."

File Music & Language.pdf (pdf file)

File When in Pyongyang.pdf (pdf file)

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