In Washinton, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc
About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At 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 the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.
At 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.
After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
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 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:
- In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
- If so, 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 as we rush through life?
Enjoy life NOW… it has an expiration date…
Thank you to whomever wrote this in the first place and sent it out through e-mail…
Thank you to my friend Jean-Dominique Savelli for forwarding it too me…
OMG I cried. I see both sides. How many times have we rushed by on our way to “important” events. And how many times, as artists, have we been unseen, unheard, ignored.
I was touched as well… Vowed to do better!
I’m sure I would stop, but now you have me thinking. His music left a chill down my spine, I thank you for sharing this.
You’re welcome! Thanks for taking a look…
Amazing. In my mind, I think I would have stopped and listened to the beautiful music and yet, if I was in a hurry, maybe not.
I’d like to think I’d stop as well but who knows until the situation… but when he started playing his virtuosity touched me! I hope that I am available to that if it were presented to me in this unexpected way… For some reason the movie August Rush comes to mind…
Exquisitely beautiful and yet how often do we walk right past something as incredible, too busy to notice. Thank you for the reminder, Marco and JD. That music – oh my!
🙂
I remember seeing this before and couldn’t believe how people didn’t realize the masterful violinist. I wonder if I would stop. It’s a great reminder. Love this.
It is a sad reminder of how today, more than ever, our world needs to wake up. Granted, people may be in a hurry in that type of an environment, but I would have stopped for at least a few minutes. The musician in me would have insisted!
A flip side for you 🙂
In Victoria I ran a business center downtown for 5 years. There was an amazing young sax player who would hide in little crevices between buildings, alley ways, doorways, and play slow, haunting melodies that could be heard for blocks. He was practicing ‘bouncing’ ( ventriloquism ) sound and was making his sax sound like it came from everywhere, and yet, nowhere. People would HUNT for him. I tried many times to find him and succeeded a few times. Every time he was found, I would leave a generous offering in his case as would many others. One day, after a few years, he simply vanished. I asked around the music community and people knew of him and considered him a GREAT talent … but … no one knew him!
To this day, I wonder where he is … and who he was.
Cheers,
Gil