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.
Joshua Bell always performs on the same $3.5 million instrument, a handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari during the Italian master's "golden period. So 1,097 walked by, 7 stopped, thus 1,090 people hurried by paying no particular attention. Joshua Bell received no applause or acknowledgment. The violinist wore jeans, a basic shirt, and a baseball cap. 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 commonplace 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?
Will one of the nation's greatest musicians be noticed in a D.C. Metro stop during rush hour? Violinist Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten's Sunday Magazine story in The Washington Post.
Source, The Washington Post.
Joshua Bell's Official Site.
2 comments ¨¨¨¨¨:
Para apreciar la belleza, en este caso la música, se requiere reposo y silencio. Cuando el espíritu está convulso, por una u otra razón, no se pueden apreciar las cosas maravillosas de este mundo, como en este caso, el sonido de un violín maravillosamente interpretado por un genio de este instrumento.
Sin embargo cuando podemos que el espíritu repose y nos sentimos integralmente bien, podemos "comprar" el derecho de oir los sonidos maravillosos, ya se de violines, guitarras, o de la misma naturaleza.
Absolutely true. All of us are biased with preconceived notions. And we miss gold out there as a result. Colur, race, locations, dress etc etc are given more importance than the one who wears all that. The human-Can I say God, in human form, that all of us are?
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