I got this in the mail the other day, and as atrained classical musician I want to share this with you. I am sorry if you all saw this already. Here goes.Washington, DC Metro Station. Its a cold January morning. A man with a violin
plays seven Bach pieces for about 50 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people passed 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.
5 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat
and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes later:
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 closely 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.
50 minutes later:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a
short while. About 20 gave some 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 for violin, with a violin valued
at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of
seats averaged $100.
This is indeed a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was
organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment aboutperception, taste and people’s
priorities. The questions raised:
in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive
beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent/excellence in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do
not have a single moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of
the best music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made… what else are we
missing?
<a href=”http://www.ganga.dk”>Ganga – Downbeat / Chill Out Music</a>
Tags: bach excellence