I read this article today about a famous violinist who played at a metro station in Washington, D.C. and went virtually unnoticed for the entire 45 minutes he was there. The article itself is extremely well-written and definitely worth the read. In fact, I believe it won a Pulitzer prize--and rightly so. I guess the Washington Post set up the whole scenario as a social experiment to see if people during rush hour would notice and appreciate beauty at an unlikely place. The answer: in short, not so much.
The violinist, Joshua Bell, played some of the most complex music ever written on an extremely expensive violin. He played 6 songs total in 45 minutes, and only 27 of the more-than-1,ooo people who walked by stopped for even a second. Only once did more than one person stop to listen at the same time. To everyone else, he was just your ordinary street musician making a lot of noise as they were heading to work. Then again, some people completely tuned him out as they hurried by and couldn't remember him being there at all.
I wonder what I would have done if I had been at the metro station that day. I'd like to think I would have stopped and sought out the source of the beautiful music. If I could spare the time, I think I would have stopped to listen and watch, eyes wide and ears open to music the likes of which I'm sure I'd never again hear in person. I read that tickets to see Bell perform live cost at least $100, and people respect him so much that they hold in their coughs until he ends his piece. And yet, he made a little less than $40 from all those who stopped to take note that day, and only one person recognized him near the end.
The point of the experiment and article was to explore whether people stop to take in the beauty around them or if they are too busy to be bothered by it. The old saying "Stop to smell the roses" comes to mind. Reading the article was a good reminder for me to stop and smell the roses, take in the beauty around me, and actually notice the people I come into contact with each day. I may not always know the significance of what I'm seeing or hearing or experiencing in the moment, but I'd hate to miss out on something grand because I wasn't paying attention
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
While we may or may not be watching the musicians on the street, they watch us :) there is a blog of a NYC subway musician which you might find interesting - www.sawlady.com/blog - in it a lady who plays the musical saw tells what happens when she plays in the subway.
ReplyDeleteYou are my first commenter!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. I will check out that blog. It does sound interesting. :)