1 00:00:00,492 --> 00:00:03,527 Probably a lot of you know the story of the two salesmen 2 00:00:03,551 --> 00:00:06,469 who went down to Africa in the 1900s. 3 00:00:06,493 --> 00:00:09,133 They were sent down to find if there was any opportunity 4 00:00:09,157 --> 00:00:10,365 for selling shoes, 5 00:00:10,389 --> 00:00:12,717 and they wrote telegrams back to Manchester. 6 00:00:13,313 --> 00:00:14,551 And one of them wrote, 7 00:00:14,575 --> 00:00:17,737 "Situation hopeless. Stop. They don't wear shoes." 8 00:00:18,292 --> 00:00:19,904 And the other one wrote, 9 00:00:19,928 --> 00:00:22,936 "Glorious opportunity. They don't have any shoes yet." 10 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,260 (Laughter) 11 00:00:24,284 --> 00:00:27,443 Now, there's a similar situation in the classical music world, 12 00:00:27,467 --> 00:00:31,376 because there are some people who think that classical music is dying. 13 00:00:32,230 --> 00:00:35,712 And there are some of us who think you ain't seen nothing yet. 14 00:00:36,530 --> 00:00:39,976 And rather than go into statistics and trends, 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,737 and tell you about all the orchestras that are closing, 16 00:00:42,761 --> 00:00:45,217 and the record companies that are folding, 17 00:00:45,241 --> 00:00:48,593 I thought we should do an experiment tonight. 18 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,319 Actually, it's not really an experiment, because I know the outcome. 19 00:00:52,343 --> 00:00:53,602 (Laughter) 20 00:00:53,626 --> 00:00:55,022 But it's like an experiment. 21 00:00:55,540 --> 00:00:56,871 Now, before we start -- 22 00:00:56,895 --> 00:00:59,976 (Laughter) 23 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,438 Before we start, I need to do two things. 24 00:01:02,462 --> 00:01:06,537 One is I want to remind you of what a seven-year-old child 25 00:01:06,561 --> 00:01:08,572 sounds like when he plays the piano. 26 00:01:08,596 --> 00:01:10,705 Maybe you have this child at home. 27 00:01:10,729 --> 00:01:12,186 He sounds something like this. 28 00:01:12,210 --> 00:01:14,776 (Music) 29 00:01:30,395 --> 00:01:32,289 (Music ends) 30 00:01:32,313 --> 00:01:34,487 I see some of you recognize this child. 31 00:01:35,146 --> 00:01:38,536 Now, if he practices for a year and takes lessons, he's now eight 32 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:39,742 and he sounds like this. 33 00:01:39,766 --> 00:01:41,091 (Music) 34 00:01:45,894 --> 00:01:47,085 (Music ends) 35 00:01:47,109 --> 00:01:49,976 He practices for another year and takes lessons -- he's nine. 36 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:51,628 (Music) 37 00:01:55,163 --> 00:01:56,641 (Music ends) 38 00:01:56,665 --> 00:01:59,949 Then he practices for another year and takes lessons -- now he's 10. 39 00:01:59,973 --> 00:02:02,194 (Music) 40 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:05,881 (Music ends) 41 00:02:05,905 --> 00:02:07,658 At that point, they usually give up. 42 00:02:07,682 --> 00:02:08,976 (Laughter) 43 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,269 (Applause) 44 00:02:11,293 --> 00:02:14,976 Now, if you'd waited for one more year, you would have heard this. 45 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,105 (Music) 46 00:02:22,969 --> 00:02:24,405 (Music ends) 47 00:02:24,429 --> 00:02:27,609 Now, what happened was not maybe what you thought, 48 00:02:27,633 --> 00:02:30,432 which is, he suddenly became passionate, engaged, 49 00:02:30,456 --> 00:02:34,339 involved, got a new teacher, he hit puberty, or whatever it is. 50 00:02:34,363 --> 00:02:37,861 What actually happened was the impulses were reduced. 51 00:02:37,885 --> 00:02:41,482 You see, the first time, he was playing with an impulse on every note. 52 00:02:41,506 --> 00:02:44,386 (Music) 53 00:02:44,410 --> 00:02:46,758 And the second, with an impulse every other note. 54 00:02:46,782 --> 00:02:48,896 (Music) 55 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:50,816 You can see it by looking at my head. 56 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:52,556 (Laughter) 57 00:02:52,580 --> 00:02:55,852 The nine-year-old put an impulse on every four notes. 58 00:02:55,876 --> 00:02:57,976 (Music) 59 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,869 The 10-year-old, on every eight notes. 60 00:02:59,893 --> 00:03:01,976 (Music) 61 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,385 And the 11-year-old, one impulse on the whole phrase. 62 00:03:05,409 --> 00:03:08,128 (Music) 63 00:03:08,152 --> 00:03:10,620 I don't know how we got into this position. 64 00:03:10,644 --> 00:03:12,686 (Laughter) 65 00:03:12,710 --> 00:03:15,833 I didn't say, "I'm going to move my shoulder over, move my body." 66 00:03:15,857 --> 00:03:17,447 No, the music pushed me over, 67 00:03:17,471 --> 00:03:19,796 which is why I call it one-buttock playing. 68 00:03:19,820 --> 00:03:21,523 (Music) 69 00:03:21,547 --> 00:03:22,903 It can be the other buttock. 70 00:03:22,927 --> 00:03:25,904 (Music) 71 00:03:26,388 --> 00:03:29,872 You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing, 72 00:03:29,896 --> 00:03:31,816 when I was working with a young pianist. 73 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,175 He was the president of a corporation in Ohio. 74 00:03:34,199 --> 00:03:36,462 I was working with this young pianist, and said, 75 00:03:36,486 --> 00:03:38,966 "The trouble with you is you're a two-buttock player. 76 00:03:38,990 --> 00:03:40,750 You should be a one-buttock player." 77 00:03:40,774 --> 00:03:42,654 I moved his body while he was playing. 78 00:03:42,678 --> 00:03:45,076 And suddenly, the music took off. It took flight. 79 00:03:45,100 --> 00:03:47,548 The audience gasped when they heard the difference. 80 00:03:47,572 --> 00:03:49,548 Then I got a letter from this gentleman. 81 00:03:49,572 --> 00:03:50,833 He said, "I was so moved. 82 00:03:50,857 --> 00:03:53,076 I went back and I transformed my entire company 83 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:54,504 into a one-buttock company." 84 00:03:54,528 --> 00:03:57,976 (Laughter) 85 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,896 Now, the other thing I wanted to do is to tell you about you. 86 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,976 There are 1,600 people, I believe. 87 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,690 My estimation is that probably 45 of you 88 00:04:06,714 --> 00:04:09,600 are absolutely passionate about classical music. 89 00:04:09,624 --> 00:04:14,346 You adore classical music. Your FM is always on that classical dial. 90 00:04:14,370 --> 00:04:16,976 You have CDs in your car, and you go to the symphony, 91 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,896 your children are playing instruments. 92 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,595 You can't imagine your life without classical music. 93 00:04:21,619 --> 00:04:23,643 That's the first group, quite small. 94 00:04:23,667 --> 00:04:25,491 Then there's another bigger group. 95 00:04:25,515 --> 00:04:27,626 The people who don't mind classical music. 96 00:04:27,650 --> 00:04:28,660 (Laughter) 97 00:04:28,684 --> 00:04:30,729 You know, you've come home from a long day, 98 00:04:30,753 --> 00:04:33,436 and you take a glass of wine, and you put your feet up. 99 00:04:33,460 --> 00:04:36,080 A little Vivaldi in the background doesn't do any harm. 100 00:04:36,104 --> 00:04:37,445 That's the second group. 101 00:04:37,469 --> 00:04:38,777 Now comes the third group: 102 00:04:38,801 --> 00:04:41,001 people who never listen to classical music. 103 00:04:41,025 --> 00:04:42,976 It's just simply not part of your life. 104 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,845 You might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport ... 105 00:04:45,869 --> 00:04:46,976 (Laughter) 106 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,286 -- and maybe a little bit of a march from "Aida" 107 00:04:49,310 --> 00:04:50,690 when you come into the hall. 108 00:04:50,714 --> 00:04:52,301 But otherwise, you never hear it. 109 00:04:52,325 --> 00:04:53,960 That's probably the largest group. 110 00:04:53,984 --> 00:04:55,729 And then there's a very small group. 111 00:04:55,753 --> 00:04:58,571 These are the people who think they're tone-deaf. 112 00:04:59,030 --> 00:05:01,325 Amazing number of people think they're tone-deaf. 113 00:05:01,349 --> 00:05:03,706 Actually, I hear a lot, "My husband is tone-deaf." 114 00:05:03,730 --> 00:05:04,731 (Laughter) 115 00:05:04,755 --> 00:05:06,810 Actually, you cannot be tone-deaf. 116 00:05:06,834 --> 00:05:08,056 Nobody is tone-deaf. 117 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,560 If you were tone-deaf, you couldn't change the gears 118 00:05:10,584 --> 00:05:12,463 on your car, in a stick shift car. 119 00:05:12,487 --> 00:05:14,400 You couldn't tell the difference between 120 00:05:14,424 --> 00:05:16,424 somebody from Texas and somebody from Rome. 121 00:05:17,164 --> 00:05:18,958 And the telephone. The telephone. 122 00:05:18,982 --> 00:05:20,316 If your mother calls 123 00:05:20,340 --> 00:05:23,516 on the miserable telephone, she calls and says, "Hello," 124 00:05:23,540 --> 00:05:26,253 you not only know who it is, you know what mood she's in. 125 00:05:26,841 --> 00:05:30,588 You have a fantastic ear. Everybody has a fantastic ear. 126 00:05:30,612 --> 00:05:32,510 So nobody is tone-deaf. 127 00:05:32,534 --> 00:05:33,685 But I tell you what. 128 00:05:33,709 --> 00:05:36,663 It doesn't work for me to go on with this thing, 129 00:05:36,687 --> 00:05:40,433 with such a wide gulf between those who understand, 130 00:05:40,457 --> 00:05:42,863 love and are passionate about classical music, 131 00:05:42,887 --> 00:05:45,609 and those who have no relationship to it at all. 132 00:05:45,633 --> 00:05:48,116 The tone-deaf people, they're no longer here. 133 00:05:48,140 --> 00:05:50,110 But even between those three categories, 134 00:05:50,134 --> 00:05:51,438 it's too wide a gulf. 135 00:05:51,462 --> 00:05:55,880 So I'm not going to go on until every single person in this room, 136 00:05:55,904 --> 00:06:00,595 downstairs and in Aspen, and everybody else looking, 137 00:06:00,619 --> 00:06:04,464 will come to love and understand classical music. 138 00:06:04,975 --> 00:06:06,683 So that's what we're going to do. 139 00:06:06,707 --> 00:06:12,281 Now, you notice that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind 140 00:06:12,305 --> 00:06:15,025 that this is going to work, if you look at my face, right? 141 00:06:15,049 --> 00:06:18,976 It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt 142 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,976 for one moment the capacity of the people he's leading 143 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,163 to realize whatever he's dreaming. 144 00:06:25,893 --> 00:06:28,814 Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, "I have a dream. 145 00:06:28,838 --> 00:06:31,048 Of course, I'm not sure they'll be up to it." 146 00:06:31,072 --> 00:06:33,976 (Laughter) 147 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,341 All right. So I'm going to take a piece of Chopin. 148 00:06:36,365 --> 00:06:38,626 This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin. 149 00:06:39,198 --> 00:06:40,666 Some of you will know it. 150 00:06:41,770 --> 00:06:44,508 (Music) 151 00:07:11,118 --> 00:07:13,434 Do you know what I think probably happened here? 152 00:07:13,458 --> 00:07:16,136 When I started, you thought, "How beautiful that sounds." 153 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,532 (Music) 154 00:07:28,968 --> 00:07:31,071 "I don't think we should go to the same place 155 00:07:31,095 --> 00:07:32,900 for our summer holidays next year." 156 00:07:32,924 --> 00:07:35,544 (Laughter) 157 00:07:35,568 --> 00:07:36,933 It's funny, isn't it? 158 00:07:36,957 --> 00:07:42,203 It's funny how those thoughts kind of waft into your head. 159 00:07:42,227 --> 00:07:43,457 And of course -- 160 00:07:43,481 --> 00:07:45,341 (Applause) 161 00:07:45,365 --> 00:07:48,176 Of course, if the piece is long and you've had a long day, 162 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,619 you might actually drift off. 163 00:07:49,643 --> 00:07:51,812 Then your companion will dig you in the ribs 164 00:07:51,836 --> 00:07:54,867 and say, "Wake up! It's culture!" And then you feel even worse. 165 00:07:54,891 --> 00:07:55,953 (Laughter) 166 00:07:55,977 --> 00:07:58,966 But has it ever occurred to you that the reason you feel sleepy 167 00:07:58,990 --> 00:08:01,802 in classical music is not because of you, but because of us? 168 00:08:01,826 --> 00:08:03,663 Did anybody think while I was playing, 169 00:08:03,687 --> 00:08:05,647 "Why is he using so many impulses?" 170 00:08:05,671 --> 00:08:08,778 If I'd done this with my head you certainly would have thought it. 171 00:08:08,802 --> 00:08:10,942 (Music) 172 00:08:14,548 --> 00:08:15,698 (Music ends) 173 00:08:15,722 --> 00:08:18,878 And for the rest of your life, every time you hear classical music, 174 00:08:18,902 --> 00:08:22,682 you'll always be able to know if you hear those impulses. 175 00:08:23,093 --> 00:08:25,076 So let's see what's really going on here. 176 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:28,013 We have a B. This is a B. 177 00:08:28,037 --> 00:08:29,322 The next note is a C. 178 00:08:29,798 --> 00:08:31,976 And the job of the C is to make the B sad. 179 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:33,601 And it does, doesn't it? 180 00:08:33,625 --> 00:08:35,373 (Laughter) 181 00:08:35,397 --> 00:08:36,608 Composers know that. 182 00:08:36,632 --> 00:08:39,211 If they want sad music, they just play those two notes. 183 00:08:39,235 --> 00:08:42,976 (Music) 184 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,531 But basically, it's just a B, with four sads. 185 00:08:45,555 --> 00:08:47,976 (Laughter) 186 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:49,402 Now, it goes down to A. 187 00:08:50,895 --> 00:08:52,436 Now to G. 188 00:08:52,460 --> 00:08:53,686 And then to F. 189 00:08:53,710 --> 00:08:55,769 So we have B, A, G, F. 190 00:08:56,375 --> 00:08:57,976 And if we have B, A, G, F, 191 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,587 what do we expect next? 192 00:08:59,611 --> 00:09:02,721 (Music) 193 00:09:03,190 --> 00:09:04,588 That might have been a fluke. 194 00:09:04,612 --> 00:09:05,774 Let's try it again. 195 00:09:05,798 --> 00:09:08,563 (Music) 196 00:09:09,444 --> 00:09:10,722 Oh, the TED choir. 197 00:09:10,746 --> 00:09:13,904 (Laughter) 198 00:09:13,928 --> 00:09:16,794 And you notice nobody is tone-deaf, right? 199 00:09:16,818 --> 00:09:18,020 Nobody is. 200 00:09:18,044 --> 00:09:19,889 You know, every village in Bangladesh 201 00:09:19,913 --> 00:09:24,771 and every hamlet in China -- everybody knows: 202 00:09:24,795 --> 00:09:27,236 da, da, da, da -- da. 203 00:09:27,260 --> 00:09:29,212 Everybody knows, who's expecting that E. 204 00:09:29,236 --> 00:09:31,435 Chopin didn't want to reach the E there, 205 00:09:31,459 --> 00:09:32,990 because what will have happened? 206 00:09:33,814 --> 00:09:36,181 It will be over, like Hamlet. Do you remember? 207 00:09:36,205 --> 00:09:37,413 Act One, scene three, 208 00:09:37,437 --> 00:09:39,455 he finds out his uncle killed his father. 209 00:09:39,479 --> 00:09:42,217 He keeps on going up to his uncle and almost killing him. 210 00:09:42,241 --> 00:09:45,408 And then he backs away, he goes up to him again, almost kills him. 211 00:09:45,432 --> 00:09:47,476 The critics sitting in the back row there, 212 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:50,976 they have to have an opinion, so they say, "Hamlet is a procrastinator." 213 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,525 Or they say, "Hamlet has an Oedipus complex." 214 00:09:53,549 --> 00:09:55,798 No, otherwise the play would be over, stupid. 215 00:09:55,822 --> 00:09:56,907 (Laughter) 216 00:09:56,931 --> 00:09:59,523 That's why Shakespeare puts all that stuff in Hamlet -- 217 00:09:59,547 --> 00:10:01,612 Ophelia going mad, the play within the play, 218 00:10:01,636 --> 00:10:03,596 and Yorick's skull, and the gravediggers. 219 00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:05,263 That's in order to delay -- 220 00:10:05,287 --> 00:10:06,922 until Act Five, he can kill him. 221 00:10:06,946 --> 00:10:08,857 It's the same with the Chopin. 222 00:10:08,881 --> 00:10:11,293 He's just about to reach the E, 223 00:10:11,317 --> 00:10:13,920 and he says, "Oops, better go back up and do it again." 224 00:10:14,571 --> 00:10:16,063 So he does it again. 225 00:10:16,540 --> 00:10:17,768 Now, he gets excited. 226 00:10:17,792 --> 00:10:19,985 (Music) 227 00:10:20,009 --> 00:10:21,976 That's excitement, don't worry about it. 228 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,831 Now, he gets to F-sharp, and finally he goes down to E, 229 00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:27,136 but it's the wrong chord -- 230 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,373 because the chord he's looking for is this one, 231 00:10:30,819 --> 00:10:31,969 and instead he does ... 232 00:10:32,604 --> 00:10:35,152 Now, we call that a deceptive cadence, 233 00:10:35,176 --> 00:10:36,388 because it deceives us. 234 00:10:36,412 --> 00:10:38,903 I tell my students, "If you have a deceptive cadence, 235 00:10:38,927 --> 00:10:41,146 raise your eyebrows, and everybody will know." 236 00:10:41,170 --> 00:10:43,078 (Laughter) 237 00:10:43,102 --> 00:10:46,783 (Applause) 238 00:10:46,807 --> 00:10:48,474 Right. 239 00:10:48,498 --> 00:10:50,420 He gets to E, but it's the wrong chord. 240 00:10:50,444 --> 00:10:51,639 Now, he tries E again. 241 00:10:51,663 --> 00:10:53,125 That chord doesn't work. 242 00:10:53,149 --> 00:10:55,545 Now, he tries the E again. That chord doesn't work. 243 00:10:55,569 --> 00:10:57,678 Now, he tries E again, and that doesn't work. 244 00:10:58,124 --> 00:10:59,274 And then finally ... 245 00:11:02,166 --> 00:11:05,019 There was a gentleman in the front row who went, "Mmm." 246 00:11:05,043 --> 00:11:06,293 (Laughter) 247 00:11:06,317 --> 00:11:09,673 It's the same gesture he makes when he comes home 248 00:11:09,697 --> 00:11:12,383 after a long day, turns off the key in his car and says, 249 00:11:12,407 --> 00:11:13,659 "Aah, I'm home." 250 00:11:13,683 --> 00:11:15,309 Because we all know where home is. 251 00:11:15,333 --> 00:11:18,573 So this is a piece which goes from away to home. 252 00:11:18,597 --> 00:11:21,796 I'm going to play it all the way through and you're going to follow. 253 00:11:21,820 --> 00:11:23,444 B, C, B, C, B, C, B -- 254 00:11:23,468 --> 00:11:25,160 down to A, down to G, down to F. 255 00:11:25,184 --> 00:11:27,772 Almost goes to E, but otherwise the play would be over. 256 00:11:27,796 --> 00:11:29,811 He goes back up to B, he gets very excited. 257 00:11:29,835 --> 00:11:31,299 Goes to F-sharp. Goes to E. 258 00:11:31,323 --> 00:11:33,377 It's the wrong chord. It's the wrong chord. 259 00:11:33,401 --> 00:11:35,742 And finally goes to E, and it's home. 260 00:11:35,766 --> 00:11:39,202 And what you're going to see is one-buttock playing. 261 00:11:39,226 --> 00:11:40,976 (Laughter) 262 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,176 Because for me, to join the B to the E, 263 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:50,119 I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way, 264 00:11:50,143 --> 00:11:54,897 and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E. 265 00:11:55,508 --> 00:12:00,012 You know, we were just in South Africa, and you can't go to South Africa 266 00:12:00,036 --> 00:12:02,632 without thinking of Mandela in jail for 27 years. 267 00:12:03,323 --> 00:12:05,148 What was he thinking about? Lunch? 268 00:12:05,538 --> 00:12:08,976 No, he was thinking about the vision for South Africa 269 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,545 and for human beings. 270 00:12:10,569 --> 00:12:13,522 This is about vision. This is about the long line. 271 00:12:13,546 --> 00:12:15,807 Like the bird who flies over the field 272 00:12:15,831 --> 00:12:19,573 and doesn't care about the fences underneath, all right? 273 00:12:19,597 --> 00:12:22,692 So now, you're going to follow the line all the way from B to E. 274 00:12:22,716 --> 00:12:26,065 And I've one last request before I play this piece all the way through. 275 00:12:26,628 --> 00:12:30,447 Would you think of somebody who you adore, 276 00:12:30,471 --> 00:12:31,847 who's no longer there? 277 00:12:32,516 --> 00:12:34,876 A beloved grandmother, a lover -- 278 00:12:34,900 --> 00:12:39,023 somebody in your life who you love with all your heart, 279 00:12:39,047 --> 00:12:41,116 but that person is no longer with you. 280 00:12:42,262 --> 00:12:44,224 Bring that person into your mind, 281 00:12:44,248 --> 00:12:46,225 and at the same time, 282 00:12:46,249 --> 00:12:49,707 follow the line all the way from B to E, 283 00:12:49,731 --> 00:12:52,789 and you'll hear everything that Chopin had to say. 284 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,360 (Music) 285 00:14:45,079 --> 00:14:46,561 (Music ends) 286 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,000 (Applause) 287 00:14:56,522 --> 00:14:58,516 Now, you may be wondering -- 288 00:14:58,540 --> 00:15:01,540 (Applause) 289 00:15:03,670 --> 00:15:04,820 (Applause ends) 290 00:15:04,844 --> 00:15:06,733 You may be wondering why I'm clapping. 291 00:15:06,757 --> 00:15:08,671 Well, I did this at a school in Boston 292 00:15:08,695 --> 00:15:11,892 with about 70 seventh graders, 12-year-olds. 293 00:15:12,479 --> 00:15:14,253 I did exactly what I did with you, 294 00:15:14,277 --> 00:15:16,134 and I explained the whole thing. 295 00:15:16,158 --> 00:15:17,976 At the end, they went crazy, clapping. 296 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:19,786 I was clapping. They were clapping. 297 00:15:19,810 --> 00:15:21,668 Finally, I said, "Why am I clapping?" 298 00:15:21,692 --> 00:15:24,026 And one of them said, "Because we were listening." 299 00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:27,976 (Laughter) 300 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,194 Think of it. 1,600 people, busy people, 301 00:15:31,218 --> 00:15:33,558 involved in all sorts of different things, 302 00:15:33,582 --> 00:15:37,407 listening, understanding and being moved 303 00:15:37,431 --> 00:15:38,748 by a piece by Chopin. 304 00:15:39,511 --> 00:15:40,757 Now, that is something. 305 00:15:40,781 --> 00:15:43,488 Am I sure that every single person followed that, 306 00:15:43,512 --> 00:15:45,107 understood it, was moved by it? 307 00:15:45,131 --> 00:15:46,432 Of course, I can't be sure. 308 00:15:46,456 --> 00:15:48,717 But I'll tell you what happened to me in Ireland 309 00:15:48,741 --> 00:15:50,392 during the Troubles, 10 years ago, 310 00:15:50,416 --> 00:15:53,341 and I was working with some Catholic and Protestant kids 311 00:15:53,365 --> 00:15:55,796 on conflict resolution. 312 00:15:55,820 --> 00:15:57,502 And I did this with them -- 313 00:15:57,526 --> 00:16:00,009 a risky thing to do, because they were street kids. 314 00:16:00,976 --> 00:16:03,465 And one of them came to me the next morning 315 00:16:03,489 --> 00:16:04,690 and he said, 316 00:16:04,714 --> 00:16:07,587 "You know, I've never listened to classical music in my life, 317 00:16:07,611 --> 00:16:09,720 but when you played that shopping piece ..." 318 00:16:09,744 --> 00:16:11,514 (Laughter) 319 00:16:11,538 --> 00:16:15,000 He said, "My brother was shot last year and I didn't cry for him. 320 00:16:15,759 --> 00:16:17,783 But last night, when you played that piece, 321 00:16:17,807 --> 00:16:19,621 he was the one I was thinking about. 322 00:16:20,512 --> 00:16:22,580 And I felt the tears streaming down my face. 323 00:16:22,604 --> 00:16:25,133 And it felt really good to cry for my brother." 324 00:16:25,726 --> 00:16:28,182 So I made up my mind at that moment 325 00:16:28,206 --> 00:16:32,063 that classical music is for everybody. 326 00:16:32,911 --> 00:16:34,079 Everybody. 327 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,497 Now, how would you walk -- 328 00:16:37,521 --> 00:16:41,330 my profession, the music profession doesn't see it that way. 329 00:16:41,774 --> 00:16:44,989 They say three percent of the population likes classical music. 330 00:16:45,013 --> 00:16:48,267 If only we could move it to four percent, our problems would be over. 331 00:16:48,291 --> 00:16:49,330 (Laughter) 332 00:16:49,354 --> 00:16:52,980 How would you walk? How would you talk? How would you be? 333 00:16:53,004 --> 00:16:56,339 If you thought, "Three percent of the population likes classical music, 334 00:16:56,363 --> 00:16:58,363 if only we could move it to four percent." 335 00:16:58,387 --> 00:17:00,504 How would you walk or talk? How would you be? 336 00:17:00,528 --> 00:17:02,963 If you thought, "Everybody loves classical music -- 337 00:17:02,987 --> 00:17:04,998 they just haven't found out about it yet." 338 00:17:05,403 --> 00:17:07,990 See, these are totally different worlds. 339 00:17:08,387 --> 00:17:10,662 Now, I had an amazing experience. 340 00:17:10,686 --> 00:17:11,928 I was 45 years old, 341 00:17:11,952 --> 00:17:13,735 I'd been conducting for 20 years, 342 00:17:13,759 --> 00:17:15,959 and I suddenly had a realization. 343 00:17:16,770 --> 00:17:19,613 The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. 344 00:17:20,478 --> 00:17:22,835 My picture appears on the front of the CD -- 345 00:17:22,859 --> 00:17:25,761 (Laughter) 346 00:17:25,785 --> 00:17:27,786 But the conductor doesn't make a sound. 347 00:17:27,810 --> 00:17:29,633 He depends, for his power, 348 00:17:29,657 --> 00:17:32,509 on his ability to make other people powerful. 349 00:17:33,485 --> 00:17:35,389 And that changed everything for me. 350 00:17:35,413 --> 00:17:37,146 It was totally life-changing. 351 00:17:37,170 --> 00:17:38,683 People in my orchestra said, 352 00:17:38,707 --> 00:17:40,939 "Ben, what happened?" That's what happened. 353 00:17:40,963 --> 00:17:45,663 I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people. 354 00:17:46,693 --> 00:17:49,402 And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that. 355 00:17:49,426 --> 00:17:50,615 How do you find out? 356 00:17:50,639 --> 00:17:51,950 You look at their eyes. 357 00:17:51,974 --> 00:17:54,926 If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. 358 00:17:55,873 --> 00:17:58,236 You could light up a village with this guy's eyes. 359 00:17:58,260 --> 00:17:59,276 (Laughter) 360 00:17:59,300 --> 00:18:02,549 Right. So if the eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. 361 00:18:02,573 --> 00:18:05,261 If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question. 362 00:18:05,285 --> 00:18:06,691 And this is the question: 363 00:18:06,715 --> 00:18:09,279 who am I being 364 00:18:09,303 --> 00:18:11,572 that my players' eyes are not shining? 365 00:18:11,596 --> 00:18:13,453 We can do that with our children, too. 366 00:18:13,477 --> 00:18:16,349 Who am I being, 367 00:18:16,373 --> 00:18:18,539 that my children's eyes are not shining? 368 00:18:19,063 --> 00:18:21,451 That's a totally different world. 369 00:18:21,475 --> 00:18:26,540 Now, we're all about to end this magical, on-the-mountain week, 370 00:18:26,564 --> 00:18:28,300 we're going back into the world. 371 00:18:28,835 --> 00:18:32,580 And I say, it's appropriate for us to ask the question, 372 00:18:32,604 --> 00:18:36,877 who are we being as we go back out into the world? 373 00:18:37,571 --> 00:18:39,921 And you know, I have a definition of success. 374 00:18:39,945 --> 00:18:41,181 For me, it's very simple. 375 00:18:41,205 --> 00:18:43,211 It's not about wealth and fame and power. 376 00:18:43,235 --> 00:18:45,664 It's about how many shining eyes I have around me. 377 00:18:46,214 --> 00:18:48,574 So now, I have one last thought, 378 00:18:48,598 --> 00:18:52,930 which is that it really makes a difference what we say -- 379 00:18:52,954 --> 00:18:54,747 the words that come out of our mouth. 380 00:18:55,509 --> 00:18:58,281 I learned this from a woman who survived Auschwitz, 381 00:18:58,305 --> 00:18:59,773 one of the rare survivors. 382 00:18:59,797 --> 00:19:02,694 She went to Auschwitz when she was 15 years old. 383 00:19:04,003 --> 00:19:05,153 And ... 384 00:19:06,991 --> 00:19:09,007 And her brother was eight, 385 00:19:09,031 --> 00:19:10,764 and the parents were lost. 386 00:19:11,784 --> 00:19:16,152 And she told me this, she said, 387 00:19:16,176 --> 00:19:18,628 "We were in the train going to Auschwitz, 388 00:19:18,652 --> 00:19:21,525 and I looked down and saw my brother's shoes were missing. 389 00:19:22,095 --> 00:19:25,405 I said, 'Why are you so stupid, can't you keep your things together 390 00:19:25,429 --> 00:19:26,647 for goodness' sake?'" 391 00:19:26,671 --> 00:19:29,338 The way an elder sister might speak to a younger brother. 392 00:19:31,285 --> 00:19:34,000 Unfortunately, it was the last thing she ever said to him, 393 00:19:34,024 --> 00:19:35,548 because she never saw him again. 394 00:19:35,572 --> 00:19:36,839 He did not survive. 395 00:19:37,372 --> 00:19:39,897 And so when she came out of Auschwitz, she made a vow. 396 00:19:40,228 --> 00:19:41,458 She told me this. 397 00:19:41,482 --> 00:19:44,902 She said, "I walked out of Auschwitz into life 398 00:19:44,926 --> 00:19:46,309 and I made a vow. 399 00:19:46,705 --> 00:19:47,933 And the vow was, 400 00:19:47,957 --> 00:19:53,095 "I will never say anything that couldn't stand as the last thing I ever say." 401 00:19:54,573 --> 00:19:56,170 Now, can we do that? No. 402 00:19:56,194 --> 00:19:59,050 And we'll make ourselves wrong and others wrong. 403 00:20:00,177 --> 00:20:02,594 But it is a possibility to live into. 404 00:20:03,621 --> 00:20:04,911 Thank you. 405 00:20:04,935 --> 00:20:07,935 (Applause) 406 00:20:11,479 --> 00:20:12,895 Shining eyes. 407 00:20:12,919 --> 00:20:14,336 (Applause) 408 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:15,736 Shining eyes. 409 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,760 (Applause) 410 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,468 Thank you, thank you.