ABSTRACT
Annea Lockwood’s “Piano Burning” is a piece in which the instrument is destroyed. As such it presents an opportunity for a particular type of learning for undergraduate music students. This chapter discusses the preparation and performance of “Piano Burning” through a dialogue between an undergraduate music student (Strickland) and a teaching music academic (Blom). It focuses on issues that emerge from the practice and from the literature about the work to seek an understanding of what the piece can offer students educationally in relation to what we call music. The chapter begins with discussion of the background of “Piano Burning” and its context in the 1960s, the role of the performer and the audience, the text score and issues of authenticity. It responds to the following question – what is the educational merit of introducing first year university music students to performing “Piano Burning” by Annea Lockwood?.
