So what gives something value? Is it worth what it’s worth even if that’s not recognized or appreciated or acknowledged?
As a musician I frequently experience a vast range of responses from listeners, particularly noticeably in an informal setting such as a signing event in front of a bookstore that carries my CDs: some people are in rapt joy, and some are mildly interested, while others seem to intently ignore my presence or even smirk in pitying amusement!
I can’t help but wonder where the actual value resides in my music-making. Is it fully worthy regardless of responses, or do the responses contribute to its value or lack thereof since music is in part a form of communication? How much does my attitude or skill or inspiration contribute to it?
In what ways does it have actual inherent worth?
A philosophy book could be composed about these questions, I’m sure, and I imagine a number have been --- but I want at least to make these observations, and perhaps you can also benefit from some such reflection.
Maybe you’ve seen the video and article by Gene Weingarten in the Washington Post several years ago in which he asked the great violinist Joshua Bell to set aside some time the day after his highly successful concert at the Library of Congress, and to dress casually and play similar virtuoso music in a Metro station with his case open in front of him. He agreed to it. The video is stunning! Forty-five minutes of massive ignoring. Small children who turn to show interest are yanked away by their parents. Multitudes of serious, tense people scurry past to their more important destinations, apparently shoving the magnificent violin music away from their consciousness.
I wonder if any of these same folks had paid $80 for a seat in the concert, and because of this different context didn’t make the connection?
(Gratifyingly, at the end of the subway episode one lady does listen, tosses a bill into the case, and says, ‘Thank you! I loved your concert the other evening.’)
What is the relative worth of the transcendent Bach Chaconne being played on a great stage in comparison to its being played in the Metro?
I wonder if our culture has so long saturated us with commercial promotion that our minds have been numbed to making sensible personal judgments for ourselves in unusual settings?
I think that if I saw Joshua Bell playing in that station I’d find a way to pause and listen and show appreciation. I think! Would you?
Of course, you know, I'm not just talking about music here --- this has to do with everything in our lives. How do you see value in something or someone? Do you look for
- a use (pragmatism) or
- a context (worth relative to setting) or
- promotion of it by others (persuasion) or
- attractiveness (surface appearance and draw) or
- signs of actual inherent value?
And is there an ultimate source of value? How do we know?
Comments