Black pianist here, thank you for creating this video! Highly informative, and useful for me who has just started Debussy's 'Le petit negre'. Don't feel shame for creating this video. Debussy wrote this at a time where black people were seen as inferior. That is more than highly unfortunate, but doesn't mean we should act like this piece never existed! It's better to create awareness around why the name is negative than it is to pretend it didn't exist. And besides, the music is fundamentally fantastic! Thanks Denis!
I’m 71 . I promised my mom I would keep her piano and teach myself to play before I die. Well, having had heart surgery and cancer last year I decided 2024 was the year. This Debussy was a favorite of hers as well as my grandmother. I knew nothing about a piano on January 1st. I’m trying my best. I’m slowing you down! Stopping your tape 10 or 15 times until I can get 4 notes right. But I’m happy. I actually knew I was in the wrong key!! Thank you again for your help. Your voice and teaching technique is calm and encouraging.
Zhdanov, don't apologize for discussing music written in a time that had different morals. In 100 years society will judge "wokeists" like visioth as the most ignorant of all possible racists in the whole of humanities history. People like him punish anyone who thinks rather than, like him, react to thoughts with narcissistic emoting.
Hey Denis, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, and I am sure there will be people who will argue against what I am about to say, but out of the countless repertoire by Debussy why showcase what is an incredibly racist piece of music? I am sure you must be aware of what a Golliwog is, and you're not the composer, but there is so much CPE music that could be highlighted or endorsed instead. Otherwise it's a great tutorial for people who still want to play this piece, but it annoys me how popular this remains as a piece. It's not even a good piece by Debussy standards.
That’s a good point and I don’t try to promote the work among people who are concerned about this. My point might be unsatisfactory for some, because here we step into a danger zone, and I don’t like to provoke feces hitting the fan. But in a nutshell, in my opinion, what characterizes our civilization now, is a culture of emotional shaming and a so-called “cancel-culture”. The problem with it, is that there is no limit how far you can go in shaming standards and behavior patterns of the past. For example, should we ban Plato because he believed slaves are necessary? Or, are millions of traumatized Ukrainians absolutely right, claiming that we must ban all the russian composers now, and whoever plays Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky supports Putin? And no joke, it’s really like that in Ukraine now, people are not able to step away and process their trauma, and who I am to judge them, but is this approach really justified? Am I really a traitor as many Ukrainians would tell me in the most aggressive way, just because I see the difference between Rachmaninoff and Putin? So, I mean, I see the point and you’re kind of right, but one thing I am not going to do, is joining this cancel-culture movement, and “equalizing”things, like claiming that playing Cake Walk means supporting racism, playing russian music means supporting war in Ukraine, or studying Plato means supporting slavery. Or maybe should we avoid Wagner for his antisemitic ideas? Prokofiev because he was apparently a prick who deliberately failed his first wife to KGB, and because one of his most inspired works is actually praising Stalin? I am just okay with people who disagree, and I myself for example would never attend Gergiev’s or Lisitsa’s concerts because they are prominent vatniks and putinoids, but I wouldn’t say I really care to fight with those who does attend their events. I try to avoid topics which attract hate, but nowadays it’s just impossible. Whatever you’d do, you’d get a politicized or moralizing strike for promoting something inappropriate.🤷🏻♂️🤷🏿♂️🤷🏽♂️ I even get punched for playing Bach, people tell me that his music must never be played on a rumbling modern piano lol. Summing up, I am such a guilty criminal, and I have offended so many people who desperately seek an opportunity to get offended, that one little cake walk would not make my fall into the abyss of Hell much deeper.😭😭😭
@Denis Zhdanov I don't think it's necessarily a cancel culture I am driving at, but I do think having an awareness of these things is important and what we choose to promote, highlight, employ etc. is also important. You're right, it's a different time period, Debussy was a known racist, the person who made the caricature was massively racist, and the title is an unfortunate reflection of a really shit sentimentality going around Europe. You always need an element of the author is dead, but I mean this is so on the nose, it's so flargrantly racist and provocative for its title alone, that I don't really know how to evoke the author is dead here. And to be honest about your other comments about these composers, I do think some of that matters. I have complicated views when it comes to art and music, I think good art should stand on its own but knowing about the time period, culture and even condemning the shittier aspects in my mind is fair game too. I just think, hey, there are a lot of great Debussy pieces that don't celebrate racist sentiments that may have been a better use of time to highlight and promote, and maybe as educators we have a duty to at least highlight or discuss this stuff if we are going to cover it or have some form of footnote acknowledging it rather than not addressing the elephant in the room. You do have a unique perspective though and I can't begin to imagine what that's like as a scottish man so aye. I agree with a lot of what you're saying overall though.
Yawn! Another self-appointed genius come to oversee everyone else's business....how original. You're no one's moral arbiter. You smear accomplishments that you'll never come close to equaling in your own life and we're supposed to be impressed by your intellectual vandalism? Yeah, right. Go be a low-status concern troll somewhere else. We're trying to enjoy the video.
Vasioth has brought up a good point, and the matter is really complicated, and a very delicate one. I agree that by turning to the works of the past we should not only admire them but also be aware of the context. My point of attitude is just a bit milder, because being a citizen of an invaded country, I know how easy it is to go south and start cancelling whatever is trended as enemy. For example, I don’t agree that by playing Tchaikovsky you qualify as a russian agent, and I don’t agree we must shame and destroy every Ukrainian artist who does so, but it’s what the Ukrainian society did with Oksana Lyniv. On the other hand, we should be aware of the fact that russian propaganda does use their artists as an ideological weapon indeed, and I myself play almost none of Russian music now, just because I don’t feel that for me as a Ukrainian it’s a good time to perform publicly this repertoire. I do enjoy sight-reading and teaching some Scriabin and Rachmaninoff as much as before the war though, because I can separate my war-caused emotional trauma and the cognitive thinking about such a complex thing as Russian culture. But it was sooo tough I have to say, the temptation to fall into abyss of indiscriminate hatred towards everything what belongs to aggressor is very strong when you are hurt that badly emotionally. So while I am not ready to join stronger opinions since this is my choice, I nevertheless try not judging them, because I know that people go extreme often not because they are evil, but because they are so badly hurt, that certain things trigger too much pain, so it’s easier to avoid them or fight them back with the full force. Regarding Debussy, I can separate his outdated views from the music material itself, probably because I was grown in a culture where slavery of black people and all this horrible discrimination were just non existent and thus not relevant as far as I am aware of, so they didn’t leave a traumatizing impact on me, but I completely understand those who can’t.
Black pianist here, thank you for creating this video!
Highly informative, and useful for me who has just started Debussy's 'Le petit negre'. Don't feel shame for creating this video.
Debussy wrote this at a time where black people were seen as inferior. That is more than highly unfortunate, but doesn't mean we should act like this piece never existed! It's better to create awareness around why the name is negative than it is to pretend it didn't exist. And besides, the music is fundamentally fantastic!
Thanks Denis!
Thanks man, a great statement, nothing to add!
@@DenZhdanovPianist Of course brother. Please continue putting out these fantastic videos for us!
🖤🤍
Thank you for your ongoing tutorials! Hope to see the rest of the children's corner and perhaps some tutes on debussy estampes or images in future
Thank you!!!❤
I’m 71 . I promised my mom I would keep her piano and teach myself to play before I die. Well, having had heart surgery and cancer last year I decided 2024 was the year. This Debussy was a favorite of hers as well as my grandmother. I knew nothing about a piano on January 1st. I’m trying my best. I’m slowing you down! Stopping your tape 10 or 15 times until I can get 4 notes right. But I’m happy. I actually knew I was in the wrong key!! Thank you again for your help. Your voice and teaching technique is calm and encouraging.
Thank you soo much sir😊..
Zhdanov, don't apologize for discussing music written in a time that had different morals. In 100 years society will judge "wokeists" like visioth as the most ignorant of all possible racists in the whole of humanities history. People like him punish anyone who thinks rather than, like him, react to thoughts with narcissistic emoting.
Didn’t apologize even once✊🏾
Hey Denis, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, and I am sure there will be people who will argue against what I am about to say, but out of the countless repertoire by Debussy why showcase what is an incredibly racist piece of music? I am sure you must be aware of what a Golliwog is, and you're not the composer, but there is so much CPE music that could be highlighted or endorsed instead.
Otherwise it's a great tutorial for people who still want to play this piece, but it annoys me how popular this remains as a piece. It's not even a good piece by Debussy standards.
That’s a good point and I don’t try to promote the work among people who are concerned about this.
My point might be unsatisfactory for some, because here we step into a danger zone, and I don’t like to provoke feces hitting the fan. But in a nutshell, in my opinion, what characterizes our civilization now, is a culture of emotional shaming and a so-called “cancel-culture”.
The problem with it, is that there is no limit how far you can go in shaming standards and behavior patterns of the past.
For example, should we ban Plato because he believed slaves are necessary? Or, are millions of traumatized Ukrainians absolutely right, claiming that we must ban all the russian composers now, and whoever plays Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky supports Putin? And no joke, it’s really like that in Ukraine now, people are not able to step away and process their trauma, and who I am to judge them, but is this approach really justified? Am I really a traitor as many Ukrainians would tell me in the most aggressive way, just because I see the difference between Rachmaninoff and Putin?
So, I mean, I see the point and you’re kind of right, but one thing I am not going to do, is joining this cancel-culture movement, and “equalizing”things, like claiming that playing Cake Walk means supporting racism, playing russian music means supporting war in Ukraine, or studying Plato means supporting slavery. Or maybe should we avoid Wagner for his antisemitic ideas? Prokofiev because he was apparently a prick who deliberately failed his first wife to KGB, and because one of his most inspired works is actually praising Stalin?
I am just okay with people who disagree, and I myself for example would never attend Gergiev’s or Lisitsa’s concerts because they are prominent vatniks and putinoids, but I wouldn’t say I really care to fight with those who does attend their events. I try to avoid topics which attract hate, but nowadays it’s just impossible. Whatever you’d do, you’d get a politicized or moralizing strike for promoting something inappropriate.🤷🏻♂️🤷🏿♂️🤷🏽♂️
I even get punched for playing Bach, people tell me that his music must never be played on a rumbling modern piano lol.
Summing up, I am such a guilty criminal, and I have offended so many people who desperately seek an opportunity to get offended, that one little cake walk would not make my fall into the abyss of Hell much deeper.😭😭😭
@Denis Zhdanov I don't think it's necessarily a cancel culture I am driving at, but I do think having an awareness of these things is important and what we choose to promote, highlight, employ etc. is also important. You're right, it's a different time period, Debussy was a known racist, the person who made the caricature was massively racist, and the title is an unfortunate reflection of a really shit sentimentality going around Europe. You always need an element of the author is dead, but I mean this is so on the nose, it's so flargrantly racist and provocative for its title alone, that I don't really know how to evoke the author is dead here. And to be honest about your other comments about these composers, I do think some of that matters.
I have complicated views when it comes to art and music, I think good art should stand on its own but knowing about the time period, culture and even condemning the shittier aspects in my mind is fair game too. I just think, hey, there are a lot of great Debussy pieces that don't celebrate racist sentiments that may have been a better use of time to highlight and promote, and maybe as educators we have a duty to at least highlight or discuss this stuff if we are going to cover it or have some form of footnote acknowledging it rather than not addressing the elephant in the room.
You do have a unique perspective though and I can't begin to imagine what that's like as a scottish man so aye. I agree with a lot of what you're saying overall though.
Yawn!
Another self-appointed genius come to oversee everyone else's business....how original. You're no one's moral arbiter.
You smear accomplishments that you'll never come close to equaling in your own life and we're supposed to be impressed by your intellectual vandalism? Yeah, right.
Go be a low-status concern troll somewhere else. We're trying to enjoy the video.
Vasioth has brought up a good point, and the matter is really complicated, and a very delicate one. I agree that by turning to the works of the past we should not only admire them but also be aware of the context. My point of attitude is just a bit milder, because being a citizen of an invaded country, I know how easy it is to go south and start cancelling whatever is trended as enemy.
For example, I don’t agree that by playing Tchaikovsky you qualify as a russian agent, and I don’t agree we must shame and destroy every Ukrainian artist who does so, but it’s what the Ukrainian society did with Oksana Lyniv. On the other hand, we should be aware of the fact that russian propaganda does use their artists as an ideological weapon indeed, and I myself play almost none of Russian music now, just because I don’t feel that for me as a Ukrainian it’s a good time to perform publicly this repertoire. I do enjoy sight-reading and teaching some Scriabin and Rachmaninoff as much as before the war though, because I can separate my war-caused emotional trauma and the cognitive thinking about such a complex thing as Russian culture. But it was sooo tough I have to say, the temptation to fall into abyss of indiscriminate hatred towards everything what belongs to aggressor is very strong when you are hurt that badly emotionally.
So while I am not ready to join stronger opinions since this is my choice, I nevertheless try not judging them, because I know that people go extreme often not because they are evil, but because they are so badly hurt, that certain things trigger too much pain, so it’s easier to avoid them or fight them back with the full force.
Regarding Debussy, I can separate his outdated views from the music material itself, probably because I was grown in a culture where slavery of black people and all this horrible discrimination were just non existent and thus not relevant as far as I am aware of, so they didn’t leave a traumatizing impact on me, but I completely understand those who can’t.
Well said Mr Zhdanov!