Pearls before breakfast
A wonderful experiment conducted in a Washington DC Metro station. Playing some of the greatest music the human race has created, one of the finest violinists in the world anonymously busks: will his art cut through the rush and bustle of the commuters’ morning? Will a crowd form?
I love this article and find it very moving. It’s a splendid modern demonstration of the question of context and presentation in art, and what is required to form aesthetic appreciation. And it’s a fun stunt too. (I’m tempted to try a similar thing in London to see how it works with Europeans.)
At one point, the journalist talks about infants having an innate delight in the rhythms of music and poetry which is ‘choked out of us’ as we grow up. A similar thought has been raised concerning magic by a great magician called Paul Harris: that a baby is constantly surprised at his world, and that as we grow up and learn about our environment, we experience astonishment less and less. Harris sees the work of the magician as a way of taking people back to an almost primal state of wonder. Which may be true, though in both cases, clearly much depends upon the quality of the performance.
Apropos of such things, I recently read a terrific book called This is Your Brain on Music which is an extraordinary insight into music and how it works upon us. Well worth a read – it celebrates all types of music, so there’s no need for specialist classical knowledge.
If any of you were at the filming for the first episode of The Event last night, then thank you for coming and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Good morning.
x
That’s why I like the shows so much, they’re intriguing and clever and surprising, as well as entertaining. Nice article.
I wasn’t there but Good Morning Derren nonetheless x
Wow ! What an amazing article. Thank you, Derren. V
I’m sure I saw something similar somewhere. A world class musician busked outside the venue he was giving a concert at the same day to see how the people who were paying to see him give a concert would react to a scruffy, anonymous him playing the same music outside for free.
Was there for The Event last night. Enjoyed it immensely. Wonderful intimacy with so few people in a lovely little venue.
I was on the brink of piping up when it came to the brief Q&A you did at the end so I’ll leave it out here in the hope…..
Have you come across any ‘psychic phenomena’ you haven’t been able to replicate, debunk or explain?’
But apart from that, thank you for The Event, look forward to seeing the finished broadcast 🙂
Goodmorninn…that´s indeed an interesting experiment and it would be a great idea if you do something like that with us europeans m´dearren
Some Pearls for Poetry and lovely art,!
it´s what the eyes dont see or ears dont hear
But whats in the heart…?
interesting article and book btw
(tempted)
Washington DC is like my second home; I once sat and played the musical saw in McPherson Square (a small square of greenery across the road from the Metro station) and I had a lot of people come up to me to chat. Of course, that was probably because I was bowing a saw and not a violin…
Wonder, poetry, thinking along paths less traveled by — it’s only ‘choked out of you’ if you let it. Why don’t we stop and look? Because others will look at us. Well, let them. I still stop when I find a dead bumblebee or a nice-smelling flower. If I can’t admire whatever pretty things life throws at me, it’s not much sense going outside at all.
Besides, poetry is very useful. If I can’t get an angle for an essay or a thesis at university, I write a poem or a song about the subject, first. Poetry makes your brain work in a different ‘mode’, where things suddenly connect across logical boundaries. That’s a good way of getting ideas.
On the other hand, I understand the people in the subway station. If you have somewhere to be, you might WANT to stop and listen, but the people you’re supposed to meet, the class you’re taking, the punch clock at work — those won’t really wait. At least not without you getting into trouble. So it’s really not a very fair location for an experiment like that.
I think they should have conducted the experiment in a shopping mall, or a high street. That way, people aren’t going to walk on by because they have a pressing need to get somewhere. If they don’t stop, you’ll know it is because they’re ignoring the music, not because they have somewhere to be.
I am of the persuasion that the human mind will identify the quality in music, art, etc, even if there persons tastes run in different areas.
I like rock music, but play me a wonderful solo ‘cello piece and I go weak at the knees. My artistic tastes run to the surreal, yet a turner landscape can enthrall me for hours.
But lets not stop at the classic arts. Modern well composed musicians playing commercially viable music and skillful graffiti artists can have the same effect.
Anything can subconsciously seep in, even if you are on you way to work.
So yes get in some world class musicians and artists to play in urban transport hubs and see the effect…you could even use a few caricaturist.
Didn’t Derren used to tour the student circuit as a hypnotist, and used to play Michael Nyman’s Memorial while people were coming in and settling down?
This is Your Brain on Music is a very good read. I picked it up at the library with some doubt as to whether I would get on with it, seeing as I am neither a musician nor a neuro-scientist, but found, much to my joy, that it was written very much with the lay person in mind.
Morning Derren.
We came to recording yesterday, and after queing for over 3 hours, was told our tickets had been cancelled. we obviously was not very happy about this. :o(
Hmm… funny I posted about this article on my blog a couple of weeks ago…
If you enjoyed ‘This is your brain on music’ you will probably really enjoy ‘Musicophilia’ by the truly excellent Oliver Sacks 🙂
Derren, as I was reading this post (before I read the article) the thought that popped into my head was the Davies quote ‘What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare’. Then I read the article there it was. This quote is also painted high on the wall of my favourite cafe in such a place that you will only notice it if you are sitting day-dreaming. Sometimes I sit and look at it to remind me to try and take just a few moments everyday to appreciate something.
Read a review of ‘This is Your Brain on Music’ a while back and added it to my mental Must Read list. Glad it has your endorsement too. However, will not be buying it today as I have spent this week’s book money on ‘The Time Paradox’ by Zimbardo & Boyd. Looks fascinating.
Eve I am feeling for you!
Ooh I actually wrote a blog/article/something-or-other of my own about that very article about a month ago, all about art within a context and that sort of la dee da. I’d be interested to see a Derren-ified version!
x
I’m supposed to be being good, but instead I am being led astray with yet more book recommendations I cannot resist – sounds interesting, thanks.
I’ve read the article now.
Thanks for posting it even though it made me cry and has only served to deepen my melancholic pessimism concerning our hopes for humanity.
Also, thanks for the fact that the article finally put a name to the film I watched one drunken, drug fuelled evening in the early 90s. Everything, bar the name, had stuck with me ever since and anyone I’d asked about it since just looked at me as if I were mental. Koyaanisqatsi, apparently.
Really interesting article thanks.
It’s quite strange that only one person recognized Joshua but I guess that was the whole point of the experiment.
When you’re rushing to get to work and thinking about what the day has in store for you, is it possible to recognize and appreciate something so beautiful, or, something that you would normally ‘use’ to ‘feed your soul’ in a different set of circumstances……amazing actually.
Sadly I wasn’t at ‘The Event’ but I’m really racking my brain trying to figure out what’s going on…..looks and sounds exciting though.
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Most on their way to work are already out of their normal selfes .. and even when they love this music
might not be capeable to see to it while on their way to their job. However good the musician would me. Music can trigger someone very well, but forced out of bed on a time that was not your own choice already leads to the fact that you are not in your normal self anymore.
Ofcourse there will be people who only will appreciate music when they are not in their normal self.
I think I’d def. would hear the music .. and def. would have a look at the person, would not recognize the guy as I don’t know the guy, but would wonder .. maybe throw in some money (depends on how rushed I’d be, or how comatic I’d still be (not on yet) but probably would not stop to listen (only a few mornings when of to work Ã’d be capeable to see to that). I’m very aware of the fact that work interferes quite often with my private self. Normally I dont’get up that early and this forces already something inside of me that prevends me from being myself .. draggin me forward to work (although it does not look as if I’m dragging myself forward .. I look very much up and on in fact .. I can appreciate music from the mind and from my emotional self .. can not be compared ofcourse .. the first is not really for enjoying the music but merely for judging the music .. it’s more distant . and listening from emotion .. I have to lie down to enjoy it to the max … let your self be played by the music .. let it take you somewhere where is no time .. no body … Dancing to music is another area … in which you ofcourse will have to use your body ..
Etc etc etc
But then again ..I arrive by car .. so wont ever run into something like this … prefer to run into something like this when planned and scheduled .. so all ready for it … wide open …
With such an experiment you can ofcourse more or less manipulate results .. type of artist, type of people on their way to work … part of the city .. time .. etc etc…
Dear Derren,
Show was amazing as ever and cannot wait for the final event. It was also first time I had ever spoke to you and you now top the most down to earth “celebs” (just above James Corden lol).
Cheers
Rob M.
I’m a classically trained flutist (or flautist as we’re more commonly called in Europe), but I’ve never dreamed of trying to make my living from music– too attached to food and clothing. I’ve done a bit of busking over the years, and have had similar experiences– though I’m certainly not Mr. Bell, and my instrument is worth several thousand times less than his. 😉
If anyone would like to see a full performance of Chaconne by another master, there’s a free video on iTunes:
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/metmuseum.org.1821240813.01821240815.1821346321?i=1139178383
Amazing to think that so few would stop. I adore buskers of all sorts, those with genuine talent are especially treasured.
Yeah – music is so powerful – it’s a great way to express ourselves – when performing or listening. My 2.5 yr old daughter is autistic and can’t yet spk yet she can mimic the tunes of music while dancing to it – we have to have the music channel on for her a lot of the day. She has very selective hearing to – some noises she can’t stand but others she loves. I was playing my drum kit yesterday afternoon and she loved it (most ppl h8 it when i play!) Thnks for that article Derren – was really interesting. I’m so sad – wish i copuld have been there last night – but never mind hope everyone had a gr8 night. xxx Good morning too.xxxxxxx
At Paddington train station in London there used to be a brass band who played there on Friday evenings, 7.30 to 9.30 I think. They play in the main part of the station, next to the trains, and the music is often drowned out by the general machinery noise.
It’s a good thing to see. You can tell they like being there as well and are just doing it for the sheer joy and coolness of it all.
I hope this is still going on.
I read about this when it was first done.
Wouldn’t there also be a contingent of passers-by who DID recognize him, but didn’t do/say anything due to embarrassment, or due to uncertainty that THE Joshua Bell could possibly be playing in a metro station (compounded by the fact that no one else seemed to notice, either)? I’m certain I probably would have fallen in this catergory, had I been there.
I’ll be seeing Joshua Bell perform this spring. Very exciting:)
Hello Derren,
I was at The Event. on Saturday. Thanks for the wine.
It is your showmanship that I truly admire. Your absolute attention to magic as an experience is something I’ve been inspired by and have taken into many facets of my life.
I also admire your attention the devil in the details….I see it in your paintings in the same way that I see it in your performance. Every stroke counts…
Alakazam!
JP Morgan Jr – Lad, any pics with Mr B if you met him afterwards? Im a nosey get but glad to hear you had a good time!
That goes for anyone else who met him an all!
…you want to see pictures of random people with Derren? Why?
No offense meant, I’m genuinely curious. To me, pics like that (ie, casual photos) remind me of the time they were taken, of interesting conversations or a fun evening out or something. Seeing other people’s pics makes no sense to me, as I wasn’t there to begin with. Unless they tell me the story that goes with the pictures, of course, in which case it’s a nice illustration.
Cameras were banned from the site along with mobile phones (had to stay out the building totally) so chances of photos of Derren that night were slim at best. The audiance went back to collect belongings so by then Derren had already gone I belive.
Cheers
Rob
When I used to work in London, despite all the mad rush that goes on in the underground, I used to love it when from the deep in the bowels of the underground, some beautiful music would come drifting up through the levels. It would sometime seem like the musician was completely invisable and that I was the only one who could hear or see them as more often than not, the other 100’s of people would be more interested in getting home, rather than just stopping for a second to be moved by the beauty of music. Two weeks ago I was in London with my 8yr old daughter and we came accross a musician playing the violin in a subway by the Natural History Museum, and my daughter was moved by the music. We were the only people who stopped and just let the world go by – moments like that are very moving, if you allow them happen!
It has never ceased to amaze me how maybe just 4 or 5 notes played on the piano, at the right point in a film, can reduce you to tears. Music is amazing and has the ‘power’ to make you cry, relax, motivate, scare or even make your body move in a way you didn’t know it could.
Derren, I hope The Event continues to go well. The venue looks beautiful on the photos.
This article was so interesting to read, and you do find yourself wondering how you would have reacted if you were there.
I always have my ipod firmly plugged into my ears going to and from work so guessing I’d have missed the whole thing…
Siobhan, I too generally have my headphones firmly in place when navigating from place to place. Since reading this article, and one on Wired about attention loss due to digital overload, I haven’t had the heart to. I think I’ll keep my media grazing to a minimum for fear of missing out on something, if not a virtuoso performance of J.S. Bach but perhaps my ability to concentrate and think creatively.
Excellent. Duff link, apparently.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/attentionlost.html
If your in a very musical mood the movie August Rush is really good
Sorry no photos. No cameras were allowed. No mobile phones either. We couldn’t even wear pants. Wait until you see the footage…
I have to admit London tube buskers annoy me. They are way to loud for a small tunnel which has 10,000 people trying to get through it. it seems quality does not count as long as your amp has 11 on it as the volume level (name that film!).
The singers in Covent Garden though on the streets are much better.
Cheers
Rob
Along similar lines to This Is Your Brain On Music, BBC4 recently showed Why Reading Matters looking at the neuroscience behind reading. As in the verb. Not the town. Reading, like Basingstoke, is highly inconsequential.
Damned duff links!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hk7w3/Why_Reading_Matters/
I saw him! I love buskers, and I try to stop when I can, so perhaps I’m not the target audience, but he was particularly good. it’s actually quite rare to see a violinist, so he caught my eye, thought I admit I didn’t do more than slow down a little.
I love all sorts of music, but he still won’t stick in my memory like the blues guitarist at Crystal City who made me cry with an amazingly rich performance of “Ain’t No Sunshine”. Thanks for posting!