SUBWAY MUSIC
A most interesting story from the
Washington DC Metro
submitted by
chorus contralto Mary Waller
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 l 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
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 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?
As we all begin this New Year 2009...let us
take time to be fully in the Present Moment and not miss
the small and exquisite things in Life.
