Joshua Bell Busking
A Violinist in the Underground
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and began to play a 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 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 03 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 06 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 some 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 theatre in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station which was organised 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 recognise 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?
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and began to play a 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 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 03 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 06 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 some 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 theatre in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station which was organised 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 recognise 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?
Labels: Joshua Bell Busking
posted by Jyoshna at
2:14 pm
2 Comments:
Many times I have walked on by.. sometimes I have made a conscious decision to stop because I realised the music was beautiful and did I really have to be rushing so earnestly to someplace else?
My ears tend to be open although I'm often not sure what i'm hearing the music speaks to me in rythmns.Its the same with images. I sometimes see a 'coming together' of light, shape and colour. what some call a 'decisive moment' where random elements suddenly begin to gel in an unexpected harmony. This may be through a train window, or on a crowded bus or driving where I have no chance to stop... so all I can do is picture the picture I may have captured if I'd had time...
Many transient moments of passing beauty.. the dancing bag syndrome from American Beauty.. I'm a photographer and I heard you on the tube busking and recognised the beauty in your music..that's why I came back and asked you to play for us.
In India There is a proverb "Ghar Ki Murgi dal Barabar"
Easily available things are not valued.
Same with us
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