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Below is a synopsis of the rather lengthy, (and stunning!) article, highlighted in an e-mail being forwarded around actively this week.
Something to think about….
Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ….
How many other things are we missing?
13 Comments
Not meant sarcasticly. I’m glad that no bad guys were able to recognize quaility either. A 3.5 million dollar instrument, out on the public?
I wonder if the experiment would have different results on a weekend, or in a park. It seems that this was front-loaded to produce failure.
Not taken sarcastically. Good points all. I wondered much the same.
In this day and age, I doubt they would dare hazard the same experiment twice, at least I hope not, just for safety’s sake alone.
And, yeah. Standing between people and a train they simply must catch.
Oh well, point made. Hopefully the article makes people pause and think. The arts in general are suffering, both in performance, on the financial balance sheets, and in the education system.
Small ray of hope: the fascination felt by the 3 yr old, transfixed, listening to “stuffy, out-moded Bach”, no less. Gotta love it. And the guy who paused but passed, then circled around to revisit the scene and leave a tip.
Nice the video sound came through pretty well. Bell’s good. Very very good. Luscious tone on stuff that is so technically challenging, many performers make it sound about as graceful as sawing firewood.
At least consider taking in a free summer concert some time, folks. Tell ‘em Adie sent ya. ;->
Recommended. Thank you, Adie, for the beautiful story and its reminder. Thinking back over the best musical times for me were 3 concerts: Harry Chapin, John Denver and Neil Diamond, but the two best were an elderly Jamacian on a sax making “Red River Valley” sound like never before and a steel band in St Thomas. Yes, I’ve been to symphonies, but my memory does not hold them like those I mentioned.
Paychecks, clocks and calendars are terrible slave masters; to often they don’t ‘low no joy.
Music is a world without boundaries, as far as I know. The classical oboist in our family used to listen to Pink Floyd thru his earphones while making reeds. Cracked us up. heh.
And – horror of horrors, we actually had to introduce him to the joys of Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Earl Scruggs, Simon & Garfunkel….
But he found Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald on his own.
Even they can’t stop those of us who carry it in our heads 24/7.
Long live the “late night” concerts at the Lake.
One of my favorite music experiences of all time: We were on Molokai in Hawaii, visiting a local gathering place frequented by the local residents. As dusk approached, the musicians, many of them elderly, easily into their 70s & 80s, often several from the same family, casually gathered and took up bench space at two long tables. Most wore leis and other flowers. Nearly all carried instruments, mostly ukuleles – but there was an ancient-looking “xylophone” of some sort, and the voices. Oh, the voices. The music was easy-going and natural. Just enough warble in the voices and instruments that it spoke clearly of old times and new, nothing forgotten, but true, an authentic old-time native Hawaiian jam session.
The smiles around those tables, and out around the simple patio were genuine and warm. Not to be forgotten.
Laughter is another beautiful thing about us humans. I still think of the day you posted that Carol Burnett clip. I sat here laughing so hard and so long, tears blurring the screen. That was a beautiful gift and I thank you again.
A whole mess of thoughts have been triggered by your diary, Adie. I think I’ll start off each day from now on with about 30 minutes of remembering those good times I’ve known. (I’ve been getting grim along with all the grimness in our world these days.) You’re a joy!
Our local PBS did a repeat of an old special it had done recapping the Carol Burnett show…with interviews, clips, analysis of its success and relevance, etc. Just wonderful…with characters cracking up and Carol’s own personal story. Such fun..of course the Tara curtain scene. What a classic. Part of the point also was that it was such a happy and respectful place to work. Folks just treated each other well. I had seen it before, so I was amazed and giddy at how fun it was all over again.
Seems back then ‘comedy’ was really funny. Remember “Mr. Roberts” – the soapsuds, marbles, and the palm tree over the side? And that best of all times, “Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”; Jonathan Winters, Terry Thomas, Milton Berle and all the others?
Great…the palm tree over the side. The original “Im mad as hell and Im not …..” Thanks for the reminder.
That scene in Mad…World where Jonathan Winters throws that girl’s bicycle with all his might and utter abandon — only to have to rescue it and ride it again in order to “press on” toward the Big W…
Reminds me of some of my own rash acts that returned to bite me.
Music is wonderful because it is something we can all do at some level. Some of my most pleasurable moments have come while singing with my friends, in choirs, opera choruses, symphony chorus or around a piano. Solo singing, not so much. It is the pleasure of singing with others I love most.
Yeah, some of those songs around the piano brought on a lot of laughter, too.
Remember those school bus trips to out of town games? And in my day there were weiner roasts and camp fires; songs and stories (the boys wanted ghost tales).
Adie, so glad I caught this.
It is a very sad and sweet anecdote. I think it does not reflect the obtuseness of human beings. It reflects the anhedonia, or a kind of anorexia (?), the unwillingess or inability to allow ourselves to respond spontaneously to beauty and potential joy, to be free to stop and smell those proverbial roses. Stress. The Puritan ethic we hale from. I wonder if I was one of the people who chanced by him. Sometimes I let myself enjoy the random gifts of street musicians. Sometimes, not so much.
I will share this with others. What a great thread. :)