Piano burning
Piano burning is the act of setting on fire an acoustic piano, most commonly an
Ceremonial piano burning
In The Phantom in Focus: A Navigator's Eye on Britain's Cold War Warrior, David Gledhill recounts a combat training exercise in Germany during the Cold War where Jaguar pilots from RAF Wildenrath and RAF Bruggen had the task of destroying a piano placed on Nordhorn Ridge with a single practice bomb. Because the target was so small, it was only the last Jaguar on the last flight of the exercise that finally managed to hit it. The pilots from both bases celebrated that evening at RAF Wildenrath by burning a second piano in the Officers' Mess.[2] Although piano burning has become popular with air forces and especially the Royal Air Force since World War II, its origin is undocumented and has been the subject of myth and decades of storytelling.[3]
One of the most common legends traces its origin to the British Royal Air Force sometime between World War I and II when so many pilots died during World War I that the RAF was forced to select its pilots from the common population, instead of their usual preference for upper-class families. Attempts were made to educate the pilots on refined manners and tastes, but these lessons became very unpopular among the pilots, especially the piano lessons which the Royal Air Force believed would increase the pilots' level of culture and improve their dexterity. According to this story, the burning began at
Piano burning ceremonies based on the RAF tradition are also held by the
Although piano burning ceremonies are primarily carried out by the UK and US air forces, the Roxbury Tavern near
On 15 August 2023, the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shared photos of piano burning ceremony as a tribute to Ukrainan fighter pilot Vladyslav Savieliev, who died in action during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Savieliev's call sign ("Nomad") and a tail number of his MiG-29 ("12") has been painted on a piano.[7][8]
On 26 August 2023, the Ukrainian Air Force held a piano burning ceremony for three pilots killed in the line of duty day earlier. One of the dead, Major Andrii Pilshchykov, had been an advocate for incorporating NATO standards and traditions into Ukraine including the burning of pianos to honor fallen pilots.[9] Two other pilots was Major Viacheslav Minka and Major Serhii Prokazin. Pilots' nicknames and both planes' tail numbers has been painted on a piano as next: "102 Minka" (for L-39M1 "102 BLUE"[10]), "Prokazin" and "107 Juice" (for L-39M1 "107 BLUE"[11]).[12][13]
831 st tactical aviation brigade @831TABr ПІД МУЗИКУ ПАЛАЮЧОГО ФОРПЕПІАНО…🎹 Українські пілоти вшанували пам'ять своїх бойових побратимів.
Назавжди в строю! 🫡✈️🇺🇦 @PvK_Center_UA @KpsZSU pic.twitter.com/jxK9KBt4Bx
UNDER THE MUSIC OF BURNING FORTEPIANO...🎹 Ukrainian pilots honored the memory of their fighting brothers. Forever in order! 🫡✈️🇺🇦 @PvK_Center_UA @KpsZSU pic.twitter.com/jxK9KBt4Bx
29 August 2023[14]
On 27 August 2023, the Ukrainian Air Force held a burial and a piano burning ceremony for
Compositions for burning pianos
Annea Lockwood
In 1968, New Zealand composer Annea Lockwood wrote a piece called Piano Burning.[21] The score specifies that the performer uses an upright piano that is beyond repair. In the composer's words,
Piano burning should really be done with an upright piano; the structure is much more beautiful than that of a grand when you watch it burn. The piano must always be one that's irretrievable, that nobody could work on, that no tuner or rebuilder could possibly bring back. It's got to be a truly defunct piano.[22]
She asks the performer to soak paper in lighter fluid, set it alight, and drop it into the piano. She also specifies that balloons may be attached, and the piano may be played for as long as the performer is able. Piano Burning is a part of her Piano Transplants series, which also includes Piano Drowning, Piano Garden, and Southern Exposure.[23][24]
Experimental trio Clipping performed a version of this composition as the closing track to their 2019 album There Existed an Addiction to Blood.[25]
Yōsuke Yamashita
Yōsuke Yamashita first performed on a burning piano in 1973, when asked by Japanese graphic designer Kiyoshi Awazu to be the subject in his short film, burning piano. 35 years later, at the age of 66, Yamashita re-watched the film and was inspired to repeat the performance. Dressed in a protective firefighter's uniform, Yamashita improvised on the burning piano during sunset on a beach in western Japan. He said of the experience,
I did not think I was risking my life but I was almost suffocating from the smoke that was continuously getting into my eyes and nose. I had decided to keep on playing until the piano stopped making sounds, so though I did not mean it but it ended up having a life-or-death battle between the piano and myself."[26]
The pianos used for both of Yamashita's performances were donated, decade-old broken ones.
Diego Stocco
Michael Hannan
The act of burning a piano [...] stimulates a strong emotional response from an audience. I became more interested in the crowd's response than in the sounds made from the piano itself.
The piano burning which forms the basis of the work had taken place on 2 October 1999 at Bellingen, New South Wales. The composer Barry Conyngham, one of the observers at the burning, was heard to remark that he found "burning a perfectly good microphone more sacrilegious than burning a piano."[29][self-published source][30]
Piano burning as visual art
Arman
The destruction of musical instruments, often by fire, was a recurrent theme in Arman's work. Two of his most notable works involving piano burning were his 1965 Piano de Néron (Nero's Piano) and his 1966 Piano Flamboyant (Flaming Piano). The burning for Piano Flamboyant took place on the roof of Arman's atelier in Nice and was filmed for a documentary by Gérard Patris which was later broadcast on French national television. As with his other burnt instrument works, which also included violins, cellos, and guitars, the charred remains were then mounted on panels or enclosed in plexiglas. One of Arman's earliest works of piano destruction was his 1962 Chopin's Waterloo which took at the Galerie Saqqârah in Gstaad. On that occasion rather than burning the piano, the artist hacked it to pieces with an axe.[31]
Chiharu Shiota
Several of
Douglas Gordon
A piano started to represent for me the ultimate symbol of western civilisation. Not only is it an instrument, it's a beautiful object that works as a sculpture but it has another function entirely.[34]
The work, displayed simultaneously on multiple screens, consists of close-up film of the burning piano from the moment it is set alight until it is reduced to ashes juxtaposed with a second film which is a 360 degree pan of the Scottish Borders landscape surrounding the piano. After its premiere at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House in July 2012, The End of Civilisation was shown at the London 2012 Festival and toured as part of a Douglas Gordon retrospective in Tel Aviv followed by screenings in Venice, New York, and Berlin.[34]
Philip Labes & Jacob Reed
Director and visual artist Jacob Reed's 2022 video for Philip Labes song something to believe culminates with the burning of the piano Philip has been playing throughout the song. The chorus of the song is about protestors who have performed self-immolation to protest climate change.
People commemorated by piano burning in the World
Andrii Pilshchykov, a Ukrainian Air Force fighter pilot who died in an accident, was commemorated in a piano burning ceremony in August 2023.
References
- ^ a b Watson, Racheal (23 August 2011). "Spads celebrate 94 years of air dominance" Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. United States Air Combat Command. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ISBN 1781552045
- ^ a b c Heidicker, Roy (7 September 2007). "4th FW commemorates Battle of Britain with RAF piano burning tradition" Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. Seymour Johnson Air Force Base News. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ^ a b Crowell, Lt. Col. Miles (26 August 2005). "Why Pilots Torch Pianos at Club" Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine. Vance Air Force Base News. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ^ Stingl, Jim (23 June 2015). "Great balls of fire: Bar torches piano to mark solstice" Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- ^ Олехнович, Анастасія (15 August 2023). "БІЛЬШЕ ✈️F-16 – МЕНШЕ 🔥 СПАЛЕНИХ ФОРТЕПІАНО…" [MORE ✈️F-16 – LESS 🔥 BURNED FORTEPIANO…]. Air Force Command of UA Armed Forces (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 1 September 2023 – via Facebook.
- ^ Олехнович, Анастасія (16 August 2023). ""Більше F-16 — менше спалених фортепіано"" [«More F-16 — less burned fortepiano»]. armyinform.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ^ "Ukrainian pilot 'Juice' among three killed in jet collision, Zelenskiy says" by Dan Sabbagh and Warren Murray, The Guardian, 26 Aug 2023.
- ^ "Aero L-39M1 Albatros, 102 BLUE (cn 934649)". spotters.net.ua. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Aero L-39M1 Albatros, 107 BLUE (cn 934704)". spotters.net.ua. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ ""Мінка, Проказін, Juice": пілоти ЗСУ попрощалися з загиблими побратимами, відео" ["Minka, Prokazin, Juice": the pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said goodbye to their fallen comrades, video]. apostrophe.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ Payne, Stetson; Rogoway, Tyler (2023-08-26). "Ukraine's Outspoken MiG-29 Pilot "Juice" Killed During Mission". The Drive. The War Zone. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ 831 st tactical aviation brigade [@831TABr] (August 29, 2023). "ПІД МУЗИКУ ПАЛАЮЧОГО ФОРПЕПІАНО…🎹 Українські пілоти вшанували пам'ять своїх бойових побратимів.
Назавжди в строю! 🫡✈️🇺🇦 @PvK_Center_UA @KpsZSU [https://pic.twitter.com/jxK9KBt4Bx pic.twitter.com/jxK9KBt4Bx]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Ukrainian pilot Denys Kyryliuk killed in action". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "НА ПОЛТАВЩИНІ ПОПРОЩАЛИСЬ З БОЙОВИМ ЛЬОТЧИКОМ ДЕНИСОМ КИРИЛЮКОМ НА ПСЕВДО «GROUCH»". @bastion_tv (in Ukrainian). 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Fallen pilots who saved the Ukrainian Air Force". Euromaidan Press. 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Sukhoi Su-27, 30 BLUE (cn 36911013918)". spotters.net.ua. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "Sukhoi Su-2, 100 BLUE (cn 36911035716)". spotters.net.ua. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade (video). Retrieved 2023-08-28 – via Facebook.
- ^ Annea Lockwood, "Piano Burning and Tiger Balm," Source no.9 (1971), p. 48. The written description includes a photograph of Lockwood executing the work. A recording of the work ("Source Record Number Six") came with that issue of the periodical.
- ^ Lockwood, Annea (July 2009). "Bonfire of the Ivories: Visualize Your Piano-Burning" Archived 2015-10-30 at the Wayback Machine. Utne Reader. Ogden Publications. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Lockwood, Annea (2006). "How to Prepare a Piano" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Sound Scripts: Proceedings of the inaugural Totally huge New Musical Festival Conference 2005. Vol. 1, pp. 20–23. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Davies, Stephen (2003). Themes in the Philosophy of Music Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 109–111. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Clipping 'There Existed An Addiction To Blood' Review: Stark, Cold Rap Ruminations On Horror". Stereogum. 2019-10-15. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ Reuters (19 March 2008). "Japanese Pianist Plays the Burning Piano at a Sunset Beach." Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine ITNSource. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Rosenthal, Emerson (3 October 2011). "Diego Stocco Can Make Music Out of Anything, Including A Burning Piano Archived 2016-02-04 at the Wayback Machine. The Creators Project. Vice Media. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ North, Dale (2008-11-28). "Review: Spectrasonics Omnisphere". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
- ISBN 1493135376
- ABC Radio National. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- ^ Une histoire de la performance sur la Côte d'Azur de 1951 à nos jours (performance-art.fr). "Destruction de piano" Archived 2015-11-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 November 2015 (in French).
- ^ Sherwin, Skye (24 February 2010). "Chiharu Shiota's labyrinthine installations weave a complex web from waking life and fading memories" Archived 2016-12-02 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ Detached Gallery (Hobart, Tasmania). In Silence – Chiharu Shiota Archived 2017-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ a b Sykes, Alan (22 May 2012). "Burning grand pianos on the Scottish border" Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
Further reading
- Hope, Cat and Marshall, Jonathan (2006). "A New Historicism? Sound, Music, and Ruined Pianos". Sound Scripts: Proceedings of the inaugural Totally huge New Musical Festival Conference 2005. Vol. 1, pp. 2–8. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
External links
Media related to Piano burning at Wikimedia Commons
- Piano Transplants on the official website of Annea Lockwood
- Video of Yōsuke Yamashita playing a burning piano on the beach of Shika-machi, Japan, 8 March 2008
- Omnisphere sample library with multiple pieces by Diego Stocco, including a segment from Burning Piano (official website of Spectrasonics)
- Douglas Gordon: The End of Civilisation with stills and video excerpts from the film on the website of Great North Run Culture who commissioned the work
- Images of Arman's burnt piano works Piano de Néron and Piano Flamboyant on arman-studio.com