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China:
Western religious music banned
According to the British newspaper the Telegraph, Western musicians and tour organisers have encountered difficulties with performances in China due to a tightened political control over the arts and Christianity.
Article by: Kristina Funkeson, Freemuse
The victims of the ban are orchestral and choral groups with pieces of a religious nature on their repertoire. For example, the Sinfonica Orchestra di Roma has given up on performing Mozart’s Requiem for a fundraising event in the Sichuan earthquake zone in honour of the dead. Instead the orchestra will play a programme of smaller and mainly non-religious work.
No clear regulations
The Telegraph has not managed to get a comment from the Chinese ministry of culture, but an official said: “It is not a black and white issue, and there is nothing written on paper of in the regulations […] A smaller piece as a part of a bigger programme might be OK, but a big work like Mozart’s Requiem would definitely be out.”
The British Academy of Ancient Music had already, before the crackdown, been invited to sing The Messiah at the Beijing International Music Festival in October. The Telegraph reports that the performance will go ahead as planned, but has been changed to “by invitation only” to get round the ban.
Christianity in China
According to the Telegraph, the attitude among China’s top leadership seems to be divided: “Some regard an explosion in evangelical Christianity across the country as having social benefits, while others regard it as an alien threat to Communist party control.”
The British newspaper the Guardian writes that the Communist Party’s scepticism is due to that Christianity “presented people with an alternative authority (God) and an alternative set of rules”. However, according the Guardian, the spread of Christianity in China is not related to the performances of religious music in concert halls of the cities.
No obvious explanation
Freemuse has previously reported about how the Chinese authorities have tightened the control of foreign artists since about six months back in time. This is thought to be a consequence after the Icelandic singer Björk whispered “Tibet” several times during her song Declare Independence during a concert in Shanghai.
The Telegraph reports that some people also link this new crackdown on Western religious music to Björk’s controversial performance. But according to the Guardian there is no obvious explanation or trigger to the Chinese authorities’ decision to ban Western religious music.
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Secret worship
According to the Guardian, it’s very difficult to estimate the number of Christians in China. Many people worship in secret. It’s estimated to be up to 70 million Christians in China. This is about the same number as members of the Communist Party. The Guardian also writes that it’s also believed that there is a significant overlap in membership of the two groups.
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