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Subject: Man drags piano up mountain for elephants
Written By: Philip Eno on 11/26/11 at 5:39 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKcks_4uLmA
A British man dragged a piano up a mountain in Thailand - to play Beethoven for blind elephants.
Paul Barton, 50, achieved a long-held ambition as he sat behind his piano, just feet away from the elephants.
He decided to do the challenge to help raise funds for the blind elephants, which live in a reserve on the mountains of Kanchanaburi.
Mr Barton said: "It was a 50th birthday present to myself. 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.
"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 Pathitique Sonata just stuck.
"I had to drag the piano up a mountain, I have a really bad back, but I wanted to make the effort so I could feel like I had undergone a personal challenge."
Yorkshire-born Mr Barton moved to Thailand 16 years ago with his wife to be closer to the elephants.
He hopes to put on a concert with him and the elephants before the end of the year to raise money for an electric fence.