Michael
Jan 22nd 2009, 10:05 AM
I read this a few months ago. It annoyed the hell out of me back then.
Now someone has seen fit to email it to me as one of those 'thoughts of the day' kind of things that some people like to share via email.
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 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 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 tugged 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 average $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?
Here's an "alternative" conclusion...
It is all a matter of perspective.
Maybe the idiots who paid $100 at the Concert Hall were just showing off their wealth and trying to 'fit in' with society that arbitrarily assigns wealth status to Concert Hall going socialites who have too much money and are willing to waste it on status events.
Other people of course ignored the pest in the subway station because that is precisely what it was. Paying attention (or money) to a subway musician is a 'low-status' activity. People seek status, not some arbitrary (or elite-defined standard) assertion of beauty (as much as that annoys classical music fans and elite newspaper editors).
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for me, nobody playing a violin can ever be anything but an annoyance. But then again, I don't have the need to seek wealth-social status enough to pretend that classical music is even remotely entertaining.
As far as I'm concerned, the musician in the subway received precisely what his labor was worth. It requires a whole lot of propaganda, advertising, marketing and a spectacle event to turn that into $100 per ticket where people can dress up 'to be seen' by their peers.
All a matter of perspective. I hate elitist spewing newspaper editors playing games like this.
Capitalism is never beautiful. It is a way to make a living - that's all it is. The average people refuse to kowtow to the tastes of the elites and that annoys the elites no end - and you get pieces like this published in newspapers because of it.
I ask you, is this pathetic attempt to sell tickets to a concert series (clever promotional plan it is) more important than news about genocide in Sudan or war in Afghanistan? Those are the real news stories that get bumped to run this kind of drivel.
/end rant
Now someone has seen fit to email it to me as one of those 'thoughts of the day' kind of things that some people like to share via email.
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 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 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 tugged 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 average $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?
Here's an "alternative" conclusion...
It is all a matter of perspective.
Maybe the idiots who paid $100 at the Concert Hall were just showing off their wealth and trying to 'fit in' with society that arbitrarily assigns wealth status to Concert Hall going socialites who have too much money and are willing to waste it on status events.
Other people of course ignored the pest in the subway station because that is precisely what it was. Paying attention (or money) to a subway musician is a 'low-status' activity. People seek status, not some arbitrary (or elite-defined standard) assertion of beauty (as much as that annoys classical music fans and elite newspaper editors).
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for me, nobody playing a violin can ever be anything but an annoyance. But then again, I don't have the need to seek wealth-social status enough to pretend that classical music is even remotely entertaining.
As far as I'm concerned, the musician in the subway received precisely what his labor was worth. It requires a whole lot of propaganda, advertising, marketing and a spectacle event to turn that into $100 per ticket where people can dress up 'to be seen' by their peers.
All a matter of perspective. I hate elitist spewing newspaper editors playing games like this.
Capitalism is never beautiful. It is a way to make a living - that's all it is. The average people refuse to kowtow to the tastes of the elites and that annoys the elites no end - and you get pieces like this published in newspapers because of it.
I ask you, is this pathetic attempt to sell tickets to a concert series (clever promotional plan it is) more important than news about genocide in Sudan or war in Afghanistan? Those are the real news stories that get bumped to run this kind of drivel.
/end rant