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:
A 3 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?
For the full report check Washington Post online. I read the text on http://blog.coldewey.com/allgemein/2009/07/03/einfach-zum-nachdenken/
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2 commenti:
I like the story; actually, I like it a lot. A few weeks ago, when I read it for the first time, I actually had to wipe away a tear.
I am really unhappy with title and conclusion though, because for me, this is about perception of beauty. The thing most intriguing about a violinist - for me - is how fast and accurate he or she plays. I have this feeling about most violinists; I can't really compare them. They are all fast and it doesn't sound too bad so when people like me stop to listen to them or to watch them, they might be intrigued by the rare sight and not be the musical experience. It's not like I don't have a moment for beauty; it's much more about me not seeing any beauty in the mere sound, even though I have been told that it's in there.
Summary: Dunno if it's about the time we don't spend to enjoy beauty; maybe we just don't get some forms of beauty, period.
It is an interesting observation you wrote. Some thoughts came to my mind thinking about it:
* I guess what one percieves as beauty depends very much on what one is used to. Especially classical music can take a while to become familiar; exploring it or maybe even playing it oneself might be a way to connect to it. But without this relation, it probably won't set free so many emotions.
* Quite a lot of classical music is very complex and confusing at first 'sight'; or it tends to completely bind people's attention.
In my eyes this could justify the reaction of the people in the experiment. Even though I very much love the violin pieces of Bach, I'm not sure I would have had the state of mind of dedicating myself to them rushing past to catch my train.. Maybe in a park the outcome would have been quite different.
* About missing out on beauty: I think a lot of people do so, by being too focussed on what they are doing, or by being only physically present in their current environment, but actually distracting themselves from perceiving it. Of course this is not restricted to high quality street musicians, but to an infinite amount of little details we choose to appreciate or to ignore.
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