Tuesday, April 10, 2007

You must read this!

This was an awesome social experiment done by the journalists at the Washington Post, who got virtuoso American violinist Joshua Bell to play at an MRT station and see what happens.

It's incredible, not least because I wish I could do such a thing myself. I would have treated that guy to coffee if I was there, for playing the greatest piece of solo music for the violin ever written for everyone to appreciate and ignore.

Read all about it here!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is a great response to the Joshua Bell article by a NYC subway musician in her blog: www.SawLady.com/blog
She interprets the situation differently from the Washington Post reporters... I thought you might find it interesting.

Wolfie said...

I think we should all see the experiment as being an interesting one and leave it as that, accepting its premises and results as they are. It wasn't about how much Bell made after 45mins; he was there for a different reason. It is probably more about seeing if great music can make people stop, with its own power. In short, it's not about Joshua Bell basking, it's about solo Bach live in the subway.

And I think that is an appropriate answer too for people who believed that the experiment promotes an ethnocentric bias for dead white men's music. Great music is great music. Hardly anyone likes noise, but people do respond to acts like 'Stomp', to its rhythm and ingenuity. I know nuts about Jazz but I like it too.

Anonymous said...

It would have been such a treat to have it in your neighbourhood MRT station, don't you think? :)

Anonymous said...

Oh btw, the above anonymous is moi... hehe!