Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true 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 people’s priorities.
The questions raised:
*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing?

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true 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 people’s priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…

How many other things are we missing?

Tagged with

Notes

  1. theirdarkness reblogged this from aareiyahrobyn-
  2. aareiyahrobyn- reblogged this from thecherrytasty
  3. iilip reblogged this from fireaaway
  4. ahappyyellowlion reblogged this from littlegrimalkin
  5. fuckyeahhermioneandfred reblogged this from badatmakingupnames
  6. blindingsunshine reblogged this from littlegrimalkin
  7. wiltonchambers reblogged this from thecherrytasty
  8. dorky-teha reblogged this from firstfairytale
  9. firstfairytale reblogged this from taotrooper
  10. calloohcallay reblogged this from theloupgaroux
  11. thecherrytasty reblogged this from ghostoflectricity
  12. hannuhlynnforthewin reblogged this from ghostoflectricity and added:
    every time i see this post i feel like i’m not doing the right thing if i dont reblog it.
  13. ghostoflectricity reblogged this from octarina
  14. octarina reblogged this from taotrooper
  15. taotrooper reblogged this from heartscaping
  16. heartscaping reblogged this from meeya87
  17. wh3n-th3-wor1d-3nd5 reblogged this from heyitsapril
  18. lifeisforthelols reblogged this from anowlwithknees
  19. xoxmelly26 reblogged this from red-strings-dont-undo
  20. fiveelephantswithbaobabs reblogged this from ofatomsandhope
  21. rakshaxcaw reblogged this from aishaneko
  22. schizoidblues reblogged this from iliveforaliving
  23. blueshoesandbluemountains reblogged this from barelysuppressedfirth and added:
    Fun fact about Joshua Bell (completely off topic lol): He’s kind of a womanizing douche. My viola teacher played with...
  24. baddylongway reblogged this from bulletinaweave
  25. hydr0philia reblogged this from jadedaboutgender and added:
    Omg if I was there..
  26. jadedaboutgender reblogged this from barelysuppressedfirth
  27. barelysuppressedfirth reblogged this from detectivejane and added:
    can i just add that if you actually watch the video, there’s a person who not only stops and has a conversation with...
  28. honeykin reblogged this from nom-chompsky
  29. mochathedude reblogged this from clichebullshit
  30. bulletinaweave reblogged this from fridaphile and added:
    This commentary is so awesome