Do you want to live? Then look at the culture of death, say not this, not anymore — and turn to the good, the beautiful and the true. It's still here, hiding in plain sight.
I’ve heard a strad and been within touching distance of one, talked to the owner. I really felt like I was in the presence of greatness even though the owner was just a young pup. She was good but not great. It was in the narthex of a church, one of those music ed touring young stars thing. If you’re ever in a meet and great and ask questions thing with young violin, cello players, ask them about their bows. They really get animated. I don’t know much but one of my best friends is a bow luther and has bows shipped to her for repair from all over the world so she told me to ask that question. Sometimes the bows are more valuable than the instrument.
Guess I had better call Mr. Bell and apologize to him for saying I’ve met bums on the metro that can play as good as him. :)
I would like to think I would have stopped as I am a NYC native and fairly cultured, however I could have been in a rush that day or had a major deadline to meet and the commute was just taking so long. I know for sure my Dad would have stopped before he even saw his face. Musicians have that instinct. My dad is a violinist.
Amen! That was beautiful. Everyone should read this.
Sure we are. I'll bet someone stopped, lit a lighter, and shouted out a request for Freebird.
good column, but I challenge whether the case of the great violinist playing in a metro station proves anything — I am someone who often stops to listen to (and donate to) street musicians above ground, if the music is at least decent and the setting is not too unpalatable — but I have never in my life stopped for underground music in a subway station. It’s just too unpleasant an atmosphere, I don’t want to be there, no matter how good the music. The WaPo “experiment” does not really show anything except that sane people don’t like to stop and hang around in subway stations.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson--
I think not. As a long distance commuter, you want to move as fast as possible to reach you destination. Going to work or home, distractions are unappreciated. They do not go unnoticed or unappreciated (if worthwhile).
I have ridden the D.C. subway, as a tourist. Having no schedule I might have stopped. But if I had stopped, I would have felt obliged to contribute.
Given that most people in D.C. are either liberals or tourist. The liberals would not stop because they expect such things to be free and, after all, he gets paid by the Government. The tourist is afraid of the bum.
Perhaps if they still taught music appreciation in schools, people would have paid attention. Instead, the schools are teaching much more important subjects, such as “global warming”, practical socialism 201, and “9/11 Conspiracy”.
or maybe, like me, these people aren’t into classical and wouldn’t know if he was playing it well or not.
now get Eddie Van Halen and his guitar in the subway and see who appreciates it. . .
afterthought: Violin is a very subjective instrument. if you took the worlds top bagpipe player and put him in the subway, he just might end up dead. . .
Gene, you're probably missing the fact that people who aren't journalists and who actually work real jobs may not have time to stop and listen because they need to get to work.
You're also probably missing the fact that not everyone likes the same type of music.
You could have Nas himself perform "New York State Of Mind" from Illmatic on the dock at a regatta - and I'll guess that not everyone would stop to listen to one of the best MCs on earth spit some of the tightest rhymes ever written.
rhema,
alisasny in post #5 puts this story in context.
A DC Metro station is no place to stop and listen to anything.
A park or memorial would attract plenty of listeners.
The author and the planner of this ‘experiment’ are not too bright.
In designing an experiment to draw accurate inferences about answers to hypothetical questions of interest, it is necessary in this case to randomize locations, settings, time of day and day of week. Then and only then can an inference be held as valid.
This article reveals poor journalism and shoddy science.
We read about this in the local newspaper on Sunday. The people have JOBS that they have to get to ON TIME.
I’m a stay-at-home mom, and I couldn’t stop to listen to a violinist when I’m out, unless he were playing at the library or the Wal-mart. We have to get to gymnastics, Scouts, Sunday School, Scouts, blahblahblah ON TIME, or somebody will call the police to report the abandoned child!
There doubtless some who would not consider beautiful the music wafting over them and into their souls. Such may have ears (and souls) trained in rap and salted with dissonance.
When I read the story, (and I would recommend anybody interested to dig up the Washington Post story, it was in the Sunday Magazine a few weeks ago), it made me sad. If I had known about this test, I would have taken off from work and taken the metro to the station, just to listen to him play.
Oh well. I DO stop when I here people of talent playing, and I don’t care if I know they are good or not. But if you are running late for work, you just aren’t going to stop to listen to someone play music.
I don’t think the study showed we don’t recognize beauty, it just showed that we don’t have time for it.
It would have been interesting to see what happened if they ran the test for another 45 minutes, but with a small display announcing who he was. My bet is a lot of people would still have gone by because they had no time to listen.
I wish I had been on one of those metro trains.... it has been far too long since I’ve heard a violin playing, let alone by the hands of a master playing the works of the masters. I cannot say for certain, but I cannot believe I would have walked by without notice.
Thanks for the great article. I forwarded it to my son who is a videographer.
Thought this was about RAP music..
At a networking luncheon I was at last month, they were talking about this. They contacted several of the individuals asking why or why not (stopping). The results were rather interesting, but one thing that they did show (there were cameras on Mr. Bell) was that nearly every child tried to stop and listen/watch Mr. Bell as he played.
I think it interesting that the children saw something different but the majority of the adults didn’t.
The original story on the experiment is a pretty interesting read too.