Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

Yesterday's gorgeous, cool weather beckoned us to go into New York City and walk through Central Park. It appeared that other people had the same idea as the park was jammed. Along with the strollers, runners, bicyclists, and rollerbladers were the street musicians playing an assortment of instruments. One who particularly caught my eyes and ears was a xylophone player. The bin that he had used to transport his instrument said "Property of the Juilliard Percussion Department". I wondered if being a street player or busker constituted an approved performance activity.

This incident reminded me of the recent Washington Post experiment where world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell played for 43 minutes at the L'Enfant Plaza metro station in Washington D.C. during the morning rush hour. This was videotaped by a hidden camera since the newspaper wanted to see the public's reaction to luminous music performed by an unknown violinist on an extremely valuable instrument out of context. To my surprise, over 1,000 commuters walked by and did not acknowledge him; a small handful stopped to give him a donation as a token of their appreciation. It was probably the only time in Bell's career that he was ignored and not applauded for his efforts. One may say that we are just too busy to appreciate the beauty in life.

Two of the pieces that he played were J. S. Bach's powerful "Chaconne" from the Sonata #2 for Solo Violin and Franz Schubert's haunting Ave Maria. For those interested in the phenomenon of street performers, the Library has Patricia J. Campbell's Passing the Hat: Street Performers in America.