washingtonpost.com — Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice?
Apr 7, 2007 View in Crawl 4
kibibytebrainApr 8, 2007
I wouldn't be surprised if a well known but not super famous rock guitarist would face similar recognition. People on the street are usually there to get from A to B, not to identify musical talent.
moghuaApr 8, 2007
Not entirely: <a class="user" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8PZ8-cpWc4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8PZ8-cpWc4</a>
rokketgeekApr 8, 2007
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ogletreeApr 9, 2007
The writer really thinks a lot of himself. There was no reason for that to be so long.
danielpettyFeb 17, 2011
The writer won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in journalism for feature writing for this piece, a fact that might change many peoples' opinion about it. That kind of phenomenon -- how context changes our perspective -- is, incidentally, what Weingarten discusses in the story.
ch33seheadApr 9, 2007
But then they wouldn't get to sell it as a DVD!
varbleApr 9, 2007
not surprising to me in the least. Honestly I wouldn't have known him either, but I probably would have stopped to listen for a bit, unless I was in a big ass hurry. That is where I see the problem actually, I think it can say a lot about American's work habits and lifestyles, but that doesn't say we can't appreciate a good classical movement, as long as it doesn't interfere with our schedules... it isn't really fair to judge everyone based solely on this little social experiment. I mean they did it at rush hour for christ sakes. If it were me, I wouldn't risk being late for work, why would I expect anyone else to feel differently. Here in Japan I see street performers all the time, they ALWAYS draw a crowd, but you never see them during the morning rush. To make this experiment fair, they should have staged it at several locations around the city during off rush times. If I were on my lunch break, or if I were on my way home, I would take the time to listen. The article was overly gushing... the only thing they didn't tell me was the color of his underwear. Give me a break. I agree with a lot of what it had to say, but in the end, it was all a set up, and the writers got what they expected. They are bums to treat this musician this way. Its cool he had a good sense of humor about it, but it was unfair. smells like fox news journalism to me. Please excuse the bad grammar usage, I'm in a big ass hurry.
dantoroApr 9, 2007
you should consider the time of day this took place...if you had tried this after working hours... (the hours that drive any metro city)..you may find the results to be quite different.
lithenblitheApr 15, 2007
beautifully said.i understand why many people passed by without stopping for the music, but still, weren't the stories of those who did stop rather touching? it is special to find beauty that is "out of place," and i was very happy for those who were able to take a few moments and listen. it makes me want to take notice of my surroundings a bit more.i have to say though, i was a little surprised that more people didn't even at least *look* at the guy. there are some incredibly difficult passages in what he played - things that would be impossible for most every human (certainly this one). i think we need to get more people to try playing the violin, so they can appreciate how tough it is!
melisatuyaApr 17, 2007
the same thing in spain <a class="user" href="http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/223562/0/ara/malikian/metro/">http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/223562/0/ara/malikian/metro/</a>
melisatuyaApr 17, 2007
and the same results
Closed AccountFeb 12, 2009
I'll digg this story many times over if that's allowed. I came into digg today and looked at some great stories and remembered at once this story I read somewhere else. I searched it here and happily found it. This is one great story, highly-recommended. I don't mind the length because the way it was written takes the boredom, and long-windedness is not an issue. Basically, aside from the skilled writing, I was drawn to the concept of the "experiment" conducted. I rejoiced and at the same time felt sad about the outcome. Rejoiced that there are segments of humanity that cared for beauty (the kids, two men and a lady, the paper who conducted the experiment, and Joshua Bell), and sad because majority of people just bypassed the thing of great beauty offered to them that day at the subway, and failed to appreciate the great gift that was given at that time.