Man plays piano music for monkeys in abandoned cinema

A video of a man playing piano music for monkeys in an abandoned cinema is currently circulating on YouTube.

Paul Barton – who went viral for a video of himself playing piano to his daughter over five years – captured the moment on film after discovering an old, abandoned cinema in Lopburi, Thailand.

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The cinema had originally been intended to serve the locals, and for a time was a success – until the macaques that live at the ‘Monkey Temple’ next door took a liking to it. The owner eventually gave up her business and conceded ownership to them. Barton started playing music for the monkeys after the coronavirus pandemic stopped visitors from being able to come and feed them.

They are not the first animal beneficiaries of his music-making. In the past Barton has played for old, injured and retired elephants, after they served as inspiration for Paul’s wife, Khwan, who is a wildlife artist.

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Barton hoped that playing piano music for monkeys would help to calm the animals down but he also hoped that it would draw attention to the struggles they were facing. In addition to the cinema, he played for them at a car parts shop and the ancient Hindu temple they call home.

In the video Barton plays the ‘Adagio’ from Bach’s Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C, punctuated with pauses in which he greets the macaques with a ‘Hello, how are you?’.

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Barton has also entertained the macaques with a range of music including ‘Greensleeves’, Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’, and Michael Nyman’s Diary of Love. Some of the monkeys climb on his head as he plays.