Man Drags Piano Up Mountain, Serenades Blind Elephants (VIDEO)
Nothing—not a bad back, the weight of the piano, or the steepness of the mountain—was going to stop Paul Barton from giving himself the birthday present he always wanted: playing Beethoven to blind Thai elephants.
Yup, blind elephants. That live on a mountaintop.
Barton’s concert wasn’t an attempt to break the 2011 record for animal cuteness, currently held by these wrestling bear cubs.
On the contrary, his pachyderm piano recital had an altruistic end point—raising money for Elephant’s World, a sanctuary located in Kanchanaburi.
The preserve is a home for sick, old, disabled, abused, illegal street elephants, who “can enjoy themselves in their own natural environment here until their last breath,” according to the sanctuary’s website.
“My wife and I have been working with blind elephants for many years, and I thought it might be something they would enjoy to listen to,” said Barton, to The Daily Mail. “I sat down and thought, what do you play to an elephant? You only get a short time, so I started trawling through my books and then Slow movement 2 from Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata just stuck.”
Not satisfied by the short YouTube clip of Barton playing for the elephants?
Tune back in at the end of the year. The pianist plans on putting on a full concert, the proceeds of which will allow the sanctuary to build a much-needed electric fence.
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