You may have got the following story via email. I think it is doing the rounds.
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin 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 hat 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. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but 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 their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $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 greatest 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 true 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 this: 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 ever made.... How many other things are we missing?
A great reminder isn't it?
I have been blogging for over a year now. It is a bit like an on line journal. But I have found that as I reflect on life to do a post I pick up things of beauty, kindnesses and affirmations in the midst of my life and taste them again. A good reason to blog.
Or you may want to just keep a journal, stop and reflect on your day or, as the old hymn suggests, "Count your blessings". Who ever thought blogging could be a spiritual exercise?
2 comments:
If this story is on the level, forgive me for finding it a little arrogant.
I'm not denying that one of the greatest musicians in the world can play beautiful music.
It's more that I have a problem with the assumption that there was no beauty in that so-called commonplace environment before the great violinist arrived there.
On our way to work, especially with children in tow, and navigating morning rush-hour, who amongst us would be able to stop to listen for more than a few seconds, let alone minutes, before moving our children on?
So the violinist can sell $100 tickets, and plays a violin worth millions of dollars. He has deigned to play for the ordinary people in the street who (obviously) wouldn't recognise beauty if it bit them on the arse.
Maybe most people are simply not captivated by violin music (especially when trying to get to work on time). Beauty is in the ear of the listener. Maybe it's very telling that, stripped of his star billing and usual followers, nobody could tell this guy was someone "special" and "important".
The problem with social experiments about perception and taste carried out by newspaper staff and elite musicians is that they have their own perceptions and tastes -- and that is pretty much all they've demonstrated.
I have to say... I find a lot more truth, beauty, humour and tragedy in your own true stories, JC's Helper...
P.S. I read the story again to make sure, and yes, I still find it arrogant. That's just me.
I agree with you now that you point it out. There's a time for everything and when you're busy on the way to ... where ever .. you don't want to stop and listen to music. I also agree with the star billing inflating people's worth. What has Paris Hilton eg. done for the world? Often it is not talent but media, other attractiveness and "sell-ability" that gives people their fame. Also that there is beauty in the common place. I guess that's the message I prefer to read into it. We can rush through life without appreciating the beauty in... the ordinary benificiary busking; the friendliness of the waitress, the humour or listening ear of colleagues; the Otago harbour; the elderly couple walking arm in arm down the road chatting, the guy I just met in the toll box at the rubbish tip who tried to give me the cheapest deal etc. etc. As I have said before, your photography often picks up ordinary scenes and displays the beauty.
I agree that you can shoot holes in the experiment. It would be interesting for instance if you got the same guy to play at an open microphone night at a pub. How would his "talent" stack up?
Thanks for your comment.
Post a Comment