A Violinist
in the Metro
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 thousands of 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 a musician
playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then
hurried on to meet his schedule.
A minute
later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw
the money in and without stopping 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 best 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 his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater
in Boston and 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?