Pearls Before Breakfast, But For Only Very Few

Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2008, at 11:14 AM

A short while back, I was reading an article in the Washington Post about Joshua Bell, entitled Pearls Before Breakfast. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con... If his name sounds familiar, Mr. Bell has ties to nearby Bloomington, Indiana. He is also known as one of the best violinists in the world today. If you choose not to click on the link above to read this lengthy, but very good article, I'll give you the condensed version here:

As a little experiment, Mr. Bell was asked to play in a subway one morning to every day commuters, playing a very rare and valuable Stradivarius violin. He would be dressed in normal street clothes, and there would be no indications, such as signage around him, to let people know who he really was. It would be just an ordinary morning with extraordinary music being played.

Experts were asked beforehand, including Bell himself, how many people would stop to listen. It was also hypothesized that he would receive quite a few donations in his opened violin case during his stint as a street musician. After all, tickets to a Joshua Bell concert are pricey, equating to a tidy sum for him as even measured by the minute played, not hour. In all, there were many guesses, but none as low as was the reality.

In fact, of the thousands of commuters that morning, it was the very rare person who even stopped for a moment. After those conducting this social experiment reviewed the tape from the hidden cameras placed in the subway, the only common theme was that small children always seemed to stop to listen -- at least for a moment until their parents whisked them away.Many people interviewed later had not even noticed there was a "street musician" in the subway that day.

A world-renowned violinist playing extremely difficult compositions on a multi-million dollar musical instrument for free to thousands of people passing by -- and only 7 people even stopped to listen. Total tips in his violin case after playing that morning was a measly $32.17, given by about 27 people, who were almost all on the run. And as the Washington Post writer points out, yes, some gave pennies. Very interesting to say the least.

There may have been pearls before breakfast, but very few even accepted them.

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People. Always interesting.

-- Posted by The Raven on Thu, Aug 7, 2008, at 3:10 PM

Good story.

It kind of makes the point that most men do not possess anything, but many, many men are possessed.

That's how I take it anyway.

-- Posted by hopeanddust on Thu, Jul 17, 2008, at 8:03 AM

I read this article awhile back, and found it to be a great read though not surprising at all.

The point here is the human condition as it relates to deliberation.

I've read of a similar social experiment where test subjects would read the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), and then be instructed to traverse by foot immediately to another location. Half of the subjects were given ample amount of time, while the other half were provided less time to report. Planted inbetween the two locals was an "injured" person requesting assistance. Those who had the extra time stopped to help, those in a hurry did not.

Compassion be damned, so it seems.

The same thing happened that day on the subway. People were in the presence of a world class talent, but paid it no mind because they were adhering to a schedule.

Regarding junkmail's comment:

"I can't imagine too many people who ride the subway who would care, let alone know who this guy was."

Are you insinuating that people who ride the subway can't appreciate tasteful music?

That's pretty silly.

Thanks for the post, Chris.

I think I'll skip the Snooze button tomorrow in hopes that those extra nine minutes may slow me down a bit, so I can enjoy whatever the day brings.

-- Posted by GarthHudson on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 4:55 PM

How tragic, junkmail, that your perspective appears to be that a young man with a god-given gift and years of practice, dedication, and work do not equate to a "real job" in your opinion.

How many subways have you ridden, junk? When I was in New York, so long as I believed I was safe, I would stand in the subway stops and listen to various musicians. It is part of being in New York. As for identifying a Strad, you might be surprised how many people you know would venture a guess about one.

-- Posted by Greenee on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 4:46 PM

I know who JB is, and I care very much about what he does. Professional buskers who were asked about his stunt suggested that rush hour in the morning is not the best time to pull in cash or listeners.

Interestingly, after the author of this article won a Pulitzer for it, a story emerged that the stunt had been done before in Chicago in the 30's with another violin child prodigy with a similar result. Ironically, the violinist in Chicago did it with the very same Stradivarius that Josh currently plays!

I think most violinists, including amateurs, could pick a Strad, especially JB's, out of a line-up.

At any rate, if I'd been there, I would have stopped and fed the kitty for as long as he would play.

A Josh Bell fan

-- Posted by allonecounty on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 4:20 PM

Riddle Me This

Chris Wathen

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