Cómo puede un profesor cambiar la vida de un niño. Benjamin Zander, director de orquesta.
Spanish (ES)
English (US)
04 min 30 sec
Has someone's positive or negative opinion about you ever changed your life?
Benjamin Zander knows all about that. He received both negative and positive feedback about his musical compositions when he was growing up and they made him become the successful musician he is now.
This is a heartwarming story about how the example, the support, and the comments we receive from parents, teachers, and even from strangers when we are growing up can have a massive effect on what we achieve as adults.
Thanks to it, you will be able to practice how you can use the imperfect to describe repeated actions and routines in the past, as well as reflect on the formation of the tense depending on the verb.
Don't forget to show this video to your friends so you can practice together by discussing it.
You can watch it here: https://flyinglanguages.com/videos/como-puede-un-profesor-cambiar-la-vida-de-un-nino-benjamin-zanderdirector-de-orquesta-english-us/?preview_id=7018004&preview_nonce=4cca47278a&_thumbnail_id=7018003&preview=true#autoplay
I remember that when I was very little, I was four or five years old, I used to see my father, who was not a musician, but he was very talented.
He could have been a professional musician, but he ended up working as a lawyer in Germany and moved to England as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
When he came home from work, he would sit at the piano like this, and do this.
His body was filled with joy. I would say that I wanted to feel that, whatever it was, from a very young age.
I started to think that music was about love, about expression, about freedom, about joy.
That is an image that I have since I was very young, my father playing the piano, and I don't know if we had many experiences at home, but we were a very musical family.
He played, and I played the cello. That was my instrument, the cello, and my brother played the violin.
We started composing music very soon.
When I was nine years old I started composing and my mother sent my compositions to Benjamin Britten. Benjamin Britten was one of the best composers.
The reason why they were sent to him is very curious. My mother sent them to a contest in the town where we lived in England, a small town where there was an arts festival.
She signed me up and the judge said that my compositions were terrible, that I was not good at all and that he could not take them into account.
He even told her, “He should get it out of your mind. He shouldn't compose."
So, my mom sent them to Benjamin Britten for a second opinion. Four days later Benjamin Britten called.
I picked up the phone and it was Benjamin Britten. It could have been Beethoven, because for me it was a miracle.
"Benjamin Britten, mom, it's Benjamin Britten!"
He was the most important composer in the world at that time.
He told my mother: «Your son's compositions are fine, he is nine years old.
Do not worry. If you want, you can come spend the summer here. We live in a beautiful seaside town in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, in England.
Come and spend your holidays here. Spend some time at sea and we'll see how it goes." We went there for three summers.
It's a great story because my first teacher said, "He shouldn't continue. He's not good. He won't get anywhere".
He tried to discourage me and Benjamin Britten, who didn't know me at all, said:
"No! Come spend the summer holidays!”
They are two completely different ways of treating a child.
My dear partner, my former wife, Rose, had a similar experience.
She was painting. She was talented, only ten years old. She was painting a tree outside the school and the teacher came over to whisper in his ear:
“Rose, you can continue painting. We are going to do the next class, but you can join whenever you want”, and she ended up becoming a painter.
Our job will always be opening paths, opening paths.
For me, teaching is a sacred profession.
It is like holding a sacred flame.
The best thing you can do is be a teacher.
[music]
Recuerdo que cuando era muy pequeño, tenía cuatro o cinco años, saw a mi padre, que no era músico, pero tenía mucho talento.
Podría haber sido músico profesional, pero acabó trabajando de abogado en Alemania y se mudó a Inglaterra como refugiado de la Alemania nazi.
Cuando volvía a casa del trabajo, se sentaba en el piano así, y hacía esto.
Su cuerpo se llenaba de alegría. Diría que yo quería sentir aquello, fuera lo que fuera, desde muy pequeño.
Empecé a pensar que la música trataba sobre el amor, sobre la expresión, sobre la libertad, sobre la alegría.
Esa es una imagen que tengo desde muy pequeño, mi padre tocando el piano, y no sé si tuvimos muchas experiencias en casa, pero We were una familia muy musical.
Él tocaba, y yo tocaba el violonchelo. Ese era mi instrumento, el violonchelo, y mi hermano tocaba el violín.
Empezamos a componer música muy pronto.
Cuando tenía nueve años empecé a componer y mi madre le mandó mis composiciones a Benjamin Britten. Benjamin Britten era uno de los mejores compositores.
El motivo por el que se las envió es muy curioso. Mi madre las mandó a un concurso del pueblo en el que vivíamos en Inglaterra, un pequeño pueblo en el que there was un festival de artes.
Me inscribió y el juez dijo que mis composiciones eran terribles, que no eran nada buenas y que no las podía tener en cuenta.
Incluso le dijo: «Debería quitárselo de la cabeza. No debería componer».
Así que mi madre se las envió a Benjamin Britten para tener una segunda opinión. Cuatro días después llamó Benjamin Britten.
Cogí el teléfono y era Benjamin Britten. Podría haber sido Beethoven, porque para mí fue un milagro.
«¡Benjamin Britten, mamá, es Benjamin Britten!».
Era el compositor más importante del mundo en aquel momento.
Le dijo a mi madre: «Las composiciones de su hijo están bien, tiene nueve años.
No se preocupe. Si quieren, pueden venir a pasar el verano aquí. Vivimos en una ciudad costera preciosa en Aldeburgh, Suffolk, en Inglaterra.
Vengan y pasen aquí las vacaciones. Pasen algo de tiempo en el mar y veremos cómo evoluciona». Fuimos allí durante tres veranos.
Es una historia genial porque mi primer profesor dijo: «Que no continúe. No es bueno. No llegará a nada».
Intentó desanimarme y Benjamin Britten, que no me conocía de nada, dijo:
«¡No! ¡Ven a pasar las vacaciones de verano!».
Son dos maneras completamente diferentes de tratar a un niño.
Mi querida pareja, la que fue mi mujer, Rose, tuvo una experiencia similar.
Ella estaba pintando. Tenía talento, con solo diez años. Estaba pintando un árbol que there was fuera de la escuela y la profesora se acercó para susurrarle al oído:
«Rose, puedes continuar pintando. Nosotros vamos a dar la siguiente clase, pero tú únete cuando quieras», y acabó convirtiéndose en pintora.
Nuestro trabajo siempre será abrir caminos, abrir caminos.
