Is Beauty Contextual?

A fascinating and very well-written article by the Washington Post called Pearls Before Breakfast follows world-class violinist Joshua Bell as he plays some of the world's most beautiful music to an audience of people in a hurry to get to work. I won't reveal the details of the article, but it's interesting to think about whether I would have recognized the talent if I were in the position of running past on my way to work. I wandered around downtown this past weekend where several street musicians were playing. I couldn't tell you anything about them or what they were playing.