Those cryptic Shakespearean words by Aufidious in reply to Coriolanus are famous for their deep, almost inpenetrable, ambiguity. However, I use them today in their simple, straightforward meaning - I was, indeed, moved withal! By what, you wonder? Well, last week I caught by accident a programme on Sky Arts 2 showing the efforts of various people in Venezuela to take and teach classical music to children living in the slums. I had vaguely heard before of this system in operation - indeed, it is actually called El Sistema - but had not grasped quite how large and widespread it is.
The programme concentrated mainly on the barrios of a provincial town somewhere in Venezuela. The jerry-built shacks and houses climbed up a hill adjacent to the town's land-fill waste-dump upon which some people eke a living by scrounging anything with even a minute re-sale value. The alleys and streets are dangerous places, one of the girls featured in the film had been wounded in the leg by an exchange of gunfire between rival gangs. And yet . . . and yet . . . everyday the children, washed and brushed, so to speak, make their way to the school. In the classrooms they instantly stand when a teacher enters and reply politely in unison to her greetings. What a contrast to so many of our own yobs and yobettes! The children lug in their various musical instruments, many of which look as though they might have been scrounged from the waste dump and with great concentration and perseverance they set about learning the intricacies of musical notation and practice the performance of their instruments.
As I understood it from this film, all these outlying orchestra groups act as feeders for bigger regional orchestras which in turn feed into the National Children's Orchestra which has now aquired an international reputation. Because of the competition, each step up the ladder is subject to ferocious competition at regularly held auditions. Needless to say, 'Big Business', seeing some kudos might be earned, has stepped in with some hefty contributions to help finance these groups. Through gritted teeth, I must bring myself to praise the Gangster-in-Chief of Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, who has ensured government support for the project.
It was particularly moving to see one of the young boys waking in his slum house and getting ready to go out. His grandmother had been up for an hour already and was ironing his impeccably white shirt and black trousers because that day the local children's orchestra was to play at the town's racecourse. Off he went with his school friends and they had been issued with some snazzy anoracks with the Venezuelan flag all over them. The trumpet section played a fanfare to open the day's racing and then later the entire orchestra played a small concert, at the end of which they were told that they could keep their anoracks which produced some huge smiles.
The 'onlie begetter' of this truly splendid enterprise is José Antonio Abreu, a very great man, indeed. It has been his efforts and perseverance which has slowly but surely built this enterprise up to amazingly high standards which are, I suppose, best exemplified by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. They are the fruit at the top of the tree, but it was the efforts of these 'slum dog' beginners which impressed me. A heartening enterprise and I do wish them well for the future.
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