Classical Convert

A UK Version of the Joshua Bell Experiment

Courtesy of Sonic Granades I discovered that the Independent, a British newspaper, did their own version of the Joshua Bell experiment. For the uninitiated, the general idea is to send some ultra-famous musician out into the wilds of a city to go busking. After they play for 45 minutes we observe how many people actually stopped to listen, find out it’s about 0%, and despair at the state of the world. This time it’s with the violinist Tasmin Little.

Well… this one has a bit more of a positive attitude about it, even if the total cash received and number of heads turned were comparable. Interestingly, it’s the young people who actually stopped and stopped and chucked cash in the receptacle, not the older audience who “were of the same demographic group that flocked to hear her play a concerto at a sold-out Queen Elizabeth Hall just two months ago”. Isn’t that cool? There’s hope for us younguns yet!

What I like about this compared to the original, is that they actively acknowledge the fact that performing on the commuter trail, with people rushing past to get places, isn’t going to result in the most receptive audience. It’s not the most ideal choice of location:

“The ground is amply layered with pigeon shit, blankets belonging to the homeless lie scrunched in a corner, and no doubt the place is used as an impromptu loo by Friday night binge-drinkers.”

They emphasise the glimmers that the performance gathers, the kid who tugs against her determined mother to stay and listen, the people who shyly hang around out of the direct orbit of Little (aren’t we English fantastically awkward?), the tourist who pretends to conduct along with the performance. Little also seems a lot more sporting: switching into a rendition of Happy Birthday for a kid whose intrigue leads her right up to center-stage, and demanding “Give us a copper!” to a group of ogling construction workers. In short, she seems way more comfortable and aware of the rules of her milieu than Joshua did.

Basically, this version of the experiment is far more prepared to accept the fact that people are not going to stop for world-class music if they are focused on other, more pressing, more immediate things. The appreciation of great music and rushing to get to work on time aren’t really compatible. Perhaps that’s why the children, with nowhere to rush off to and no timetable to keep, were some of the most enthusiastic listeners.

Joshua Bell Goes Busking

This piece in the Washington Post has been doing the rounds on the web in the last few days. It’s a not-quite-stunt in which the renowned violinist Joshua Bell went busking in Washington D.C with his multi-million dollar Stradivarius. The Post set up cameras to observe how the rush houring D.C residents would respond to one of the worlds finest musicians playing (reasonably unknown) music by some of the finest composers, on (yes, my descriptions are getting predictable) one of the world’s finest instruments. Fine.

They interviewed the people who actually stopped - which was not very many of them, and their thoughts, feelings and descriptions of the incident are all extremely interesting. There are videos from the experiment as well.

While it’s all quite fascinating stuff, the scientist inside me (”… all of us that started the game with a crooked cue …”) is suspicious of how they insisted on doing it during the morning rush hour when everyone was rushing to get to their high powered jobs on time. It’s oh so easy to dismay at the ignorance that most passengers showed when such a fine performance was dangling just feet from their feet, but it would have been different in the evening I think.

Or maybe not and we’re all doomed. The article is well written, and satisfying, whichever way you look at it.