Week Four Post

After watching the criticism of Western scholars of Chinese orchestra I was a bit annoyed to see how harshly these western scholars judged the Chinese orchestra. The scholars made comments on the instruments the Chinese orchestra used and how they were factory made and their sound therefore had a western influence. Professor Helen Reese seemed to be a large critic of the Chinese orchestra defining authenticity as being an immaculate simulation. She deemed the "ancient Naxi Music" as not authentic because it was performed for a foreign audience and was no longer being performed for the same rituals as it was originally. But it seems quite unbelievable that these scholars are being such harsh critics of the Chinese orchestra. One should appreciate the fact that the Chinese Orchestra is sharing a piece of their culture with the rest of the world. One would assume this would be done because China is proud of their heritage. If they were to keep everything authentic then these Western Scholars like Professor Helen Reese never would have had an opportunity to criticise the ancient Nazi music because it would be more than likely that western scholars would have either none of very little access to it. Another point to keep in mind is the fact that music throughout the world and in the US especially has evolved throughout time so it seems a bit bold of western scholars to declare china's orchestra and music un-authentic because they have changed some of their methods.