the hub bub over the violin guy
so what if metro riders aren’t into hearing classical violin music in the morning? it’s not because we are so oblivious to the beauty in life or whatever. to coin an already played-out phrase: “we’re just not that into you.” i’ve seen crowds of people listening to a good go-go drummer playing outside a metro stop. i’m sure many street performers make much more than $32.17 in 45 minutes. maybe most people, like myself, just don’t get their panties in a bunch over classical music by solo violin. no matter how well it’s played.
i tried to read the story, but it was too boring and pompous. the snobbery isn’t what inspired me to write my third post of the day, however. i do think weingarten’s article raises an important issue: what is great art? who decides, the audience or the critics? is this joshua bell the best street performer dc has ever seen? weingarten asserts that bell was “playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made.” first of all, why the hell should we care about how valuable his violin is? and the “most elegant music” according to who? presumably according to classical music critics and fans, many of whom probably are just parroting whatever the critics say.
i don’t think the critics decide what is great art. i think great art is art that has the power to move people, make them think, change the world. i think it’s the artist’s job to touch people, to affect people. and if you are going to play to a transitory audience, you need to be able to hold their attention if you are going to touch and affect them. so i say if weingarten’s experiment proves anything, it proves that bell and/or the pieces he played aren’t as wonderful as we are supposed to believe they are. because if they were so awesome, people would have listened. they would have stopped in their tracks and been jolted out of their work-a-day world to hear this music and appreciate it.
as leonard slatkin of the national symphony orchestra stated when asked to make a prediction about the little experiment: “I don’t think that if he’s really good, he’s going to go unnoticed.” in my opinion (and apparently in slatkin’s as well), truly great art must, by nature, be accessible to the masses. it is also highly context-dependent. what makes music great on a street corner is not at all the same thing that makes music great in a concert hall.
i have no doubt that within a particular context, bell is “really good.” it’s great that bells’ music is highly respected and appreciated by a relatively small number of people who have taken the time to educate themselves about that kind of music. there’s nothing wrong with making obscure art that won’t be appreciated by the masses. but don’t then stand on a street corner playing your obscure music and insult the rest of us for “not getting it.”
and on that note, everyone in the dc area should go to artomatic (opening on friday) and decide for themselves what makes art good.
There you are with your controversial views again.
Well, you used to have to be dead or cut off an ear to be an artist but we’ve sped things up in the 2000’s and now you can be young, alive and an artist, and reap the benefits while you’re around. Not bad. I didn’t think the article was that bad, kept me reading it. There are people who appreciate a good violinist/musicians but most of the people who pay over $100 for backrow tickets? I’ll bet they couldn’t tell but are following the crowd. Because honestly, I played the violin from 5-18, won a few state contests, so I have a decent knowledge of music. I could tell someone was good I couldn’t tell the best violinist in the world from the the lead of a small professional orchestra. So, yeah, I guess I’m callling a lot of those people pretentious. Not saying that everyone is a poser and there are definitely those who can appreciate that level of difference but not the average concert-goer. I’d love to see a test where the audience isn’t told who is playing and they have to listen to a few violinists–how many could really pick out Josh Bell over another professional?
And, I think we’re jolted with too much noise in the world anyway that I’d probably tune out. I’ll bet if you had a great fiddler who could juggle fire w/ his feet at the same time, you’d have a crowd.
after reading zee’s post on this, i just wanted to add that i also think it’s very disingenuous for someone like weingarten to claim to be surprised that the “experiment” would come out the way it did. people need to get to work on time in the morning so they don’t lose their jobs, so they can finish their work on time to pick up their kids, whatever. and there is nothing wrong with that; people can love and appreciate beautiful music but still appreciate their paycheck or time with their families more. i think that the experiment was intentionally or unintentionally designed to try to make people look uncivilized and soulless just because they don’t have time to stand in a metro stop during the middle of rush hour, regardless of what world class music is being played there.