All was very different the second time around. And seven years after his L’Enfant Plaza busking experience, the virtuoso returned to the Washington DC Metro. In 2014 he surprised a young busker live on television and played a duet with him. The informal and spontaneous theme has continued for Bell ever since. The legacy of one of classical music’s most viral stories Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images Joshua Bell busking with music from Bach and Schubert. Many at the time also thought it a valuable reminder about the musical talent of buskers and informal performers, who are around us most days.
For those precious 40-something minutes there was music being made among us and for us as it is every day – whether it be from a Joshua Bell, a future Joshua Bell, or a not-quite Joshua Bell (but who loves music just the same). Some people see it as a sorrowful tale of all the people who just walked by – of a world too busy, too preoccupied, too uncurious, or even simply disinterested in the best that classical music has to offer. The surprising result of the experiment went viral, and was shared around the world. $32.17 for Joshua Bell? It’s not exactly what we – or indeed Slatkin – might have expected. And this includes a $20 note from someone who recognised him. Out of 1,097 people that passed by Bell, 27 gave money, and only seven actually stopped and listened for any length of time.
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