A “Master“ …out of Context
A man sat at a metro
station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January
morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time,
since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the
station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and
a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and
stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the
violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till
and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later,
someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his
watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most
attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but 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. All the parents, without exception, forced
them to move on.
In the 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. When he
finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded,
nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the
violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He
had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin
worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing
in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at 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
priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an
inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we
recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible
conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment
to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best
music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
