Der er sikkert mange af jer, som kender historien om de to sælgere der tog til Afrika i 1900-tallet. De blev sendt afsted for at undersøge mulighederne for at sælge sko. Og de skrev telegrammer tilbage til Manchester. En af dem skrev: "Situation håbløs. Stop. De går ikke med sko." Og den anden skrev: "Oplagt mulighed. De har ingen sko endnu." (Latter)
Probably a lot of you know the story of the two salesmen who went down to Africa in the 1900s. They were sent down to find if there was any opportunity for selling shoes, and they wrote telegrams back to Manchester. And one of them wrote, "Situation hopeless. Stop. They don't wear shoes." And the other one wrote, "Glorious opportunity. They don't have any shoes yet." (Laughter)
Indenfor klassisk musik har vi en lignende situation fordi nogle folk mener at klassisk musik er ved at dø. Og nogle af os siger: "I kan bare vente jer!" I stedet for at fortælle om statistikker og tendenser og fortælle jer om alle de orkestre, som er ved at lukke og de pladeselskaber, der giver op syntes jeg, vi skulle lave et eksperiment her til aften. Faktisk er det ikke et rigtigt eksperiment, fordi jeg kender udfaldet.
Now, there's a similar situation in the classical music world, because there are some people who think that classical music is dying. And there are some of us who think you ain't seen nothing yet. And rather than go into statistics and trends, and tell you about all the orchestras that are closing, and the record companies that are folding, I thought we should do an experiment tonight. Actually, it's not really an experiment, because I know the outcome.
(Laughter)
Men det minder om et eksperiment. Okay, før vi - (Latter)
But it's like an experiment. Now, before we start --
- før vi starter, må jeg bede jer om to ting: For det første vil jeg bede jer huske på, hvordan en syv-årig lyder, når han spiller klaver. Måske har I sådan et barn derhjemme. Han lyder cirka sådan her: (Klaver) Jeg kan se, nogen af jer genkender barnet. Hvis han nu øver sig i et år og får undervisning, er han nu otte og lyder sådan her: (Klaver) Så øver han sig i endnu et år og får undervisning; han er nu ni:
(Laughter) Before we start, I need to do two things. One is I want to remind you of what a seven-year-old child sounds like when he plays the piano. Maybe you have this child at home. He sounds something like this. (Music) (Music ends) I see some of you recognize this child. Now, if he practices for a year and takes lessons, he's now eight and he sounds like this. (Music) (Music ends)
(Klaver) Så øver han sig igen et år og får undervisning; han er nu ti: (Klaver)
He practices for another year and takes lessons -- he's nine. (Music) (Music ends) Then he practices for another year and takes lessons -- now he's 10.
(Music)
På dette tidspunkt giver de som regel op. (Latter) (Bifald) Hvis I havde ventet et år mere ville I have hørt dette: (Klaver)
(Music ends) At that point, they usually give up. (Laughter) (Applause) Now, if you'd waited for one more year, you would have heard this. (Music) (Music ends)
Det, som skete, var ikke, hvad I måske tror nemlig, at han pludselig blev lidenskabelig, engageret involverede sig, fik en ny lærer, kom i puberteten eller hvad det nu er. Der skete faktisk det, at impulserne blev reducerede. Ser I, første gang spillede han med en impuls på hver tone. (Klaver) Og anden gang med en impuls på hveranden tone. (Klaver) I kan se det ved at kigge på mit hoved. (Latter) Den ni-årige lagde en impuls på hver fjerde tone. (Klaver) Og den ti-årige på hver ottende tone. (Klaver) Og den 11-årige en impuls for hele frasen. (Klaver)
Now, what happened was not maybe what you thought, which is, he suddenly became passionate, engaged, involved, got a new teacher, he hit puberty, or whatever it is. What actually happened was the impulses were reduced. You see, the first time, he was playing with an impulse on every note. (Music) And the second, with an impulse every other note. (Music) You can see it by looking at my head. (Laughter) The nine-year-old put an impulse on every four notes. (Music) The 10-year-old, on every eight notes. (Music) And the 11-year-old, one impulse on the whole phrase. (Music)
Jeg ved ikke rigtig, hvordan jeg endte i denne position. (Latter) Jeg sagde ikke, at jeg ville flytte min skulder, flytte min krop. Nej, musikken skubbede til mig, jeg kalder det for en-balle musik. (Klaver) Det kan være den anden balle. (Klaver) En herre overværede engang en præsentation, jeg lavede hvor jeg arbejde med en ung pianist. Han var direktør for en virksomhed i Ohio. Jeg arbejdede med den unge pianist og sagde: "Dit problem er, at du er en to-balle musiker. Du burde være en en-balle musiker." Jeg bevægede hans krop sådan her, mens han spillede. Og pludselig løftede musikken sig. Den fik vinger. Der gik et suk igennem tilhørerne, da de hørte forskellen. Bagefter fik jeg et brev fra denne herre. Han skrev: "Jeg blev dybt berørt. Jeg tog tilbage og forandrede hele mit firma til et en-balle firma." (Latter)
I don't know how we got into this position. (Laughter) I didn't say, "I'm going to move my shoulder over, move my body." No, the music pushed me over, which is why I call it one-buttock playing. (Music) It can be the other buttock. (Music) You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing, when I was working with a young pianist. He was the president of a corporation in Ohio. I was working with this young pianist, and said, "The trouble with you is you're a two-buttock player. You should be a one-buttock player." I moved his body while he was playing. And suddenly, the music took off. It took flight. The audience gasped when they heard the difference. Then I got a letter from this gentleman. He said, "I was so moved. I went back and I transformed my entire company into a one-buttock company." (Laughter)
Den anden ting jeg ville fortælle om, handler om jer. Der er cirka 1600 mennesker. Jeg vil tro, at omkring 45 af jer er meget lidenskabelige omkring klassisk musik. I elsker klassisk musik. Radioen står altid på klassisk. I har CD'er i bilen og I går til koncerter. Jeres børn spiller et instrument. I kan ikke forestille jer et liv uden klassisk musik. Det er den første gruppe - en ret lille gruppe. Så er der en anden, større gruppe: Det er de folk, som ikke har noget imod klassisk musik (Latter) I kommer hjem efter en lang dag tager jer et glas vin og smækker benene op. Lidt Vivaldi i baggrunden gør ikke nogen skade. (Latter) Det er den anden gruppe. Så kommer vi til den tredie gruppe. Det er de folk, som aldrig lytter til klassisk musik. Det er simpelthen ikke en del af jeres liv. I hører det måske ligesom passiv rygning i lufthavnen, men - (Latter) - og måske et lille smule af en march fra Aida når I kommer til indgangshallen. Men ellers hører I det aldrig. Det er sikkert den største gruppe.
Now, the other thing I wanted to do is to tell you about you. There are 1,600 people, I believe. My estimation is that probably 45 of you are absolutely passionate about classical music. You adore classical music. Your FM is always on that classical dial. You have CDs in your car, and you go to the symphony, your children are playing instruments. You can't imagine your life without classical music. That's the first group, quite small. Then there's another bigger group. The people who don't mind classical music. (Laughter) You know, you've come home from a long day, and you take a glass of wine, and you put your feet up. A little Vivaldi in the background doesn't do any harm. That's the second group. Now comes the third group: people who never listen to classical music. It's just simply not part of your life. You might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport ... (Laughter) -- and maybe a little bit of a march from "Aida" when you come into the hall. But otherwise, you never hear it.
Og så er der en meget lille gruppe. Det er de mennesker, der tror, de er tonedøve. Et utroligt antal mennesker tror, de er tonedøve. Faktisk hører jeg tit: "Min mand er tonedøv." (Latter) Faktisk kan du ikke være tonedøv. Ingen er tonedøve.
That's probably the largest group. And then there's a very small group. These are the people who think they're tone-deaf. Amazing number of people think they're tone-deaf. Actually, I hear a lot, "My husband is tone-deaf." (Laughter)
Hvis du var tonedøv, kunne du ikke skifte gear i bilen - med manuelt gearskifte. Du kunne ikke kende forskel mellem en fra Texas og en der kommer fra Rom. Og telefonen - hvis din mor ringer dig op på den forfærdelige telefon og siger: "Hallo" ved du ikke blot, hvem det er. Du ved også hvilket humør, hun er i. Du har et fantastisk øre. Alle har et fantastisk øre. Så ingen er tonedøve.
Actually, you cannot be tone-deaf. Nobody is tone-deaf. If you were tone-deaf, you couldn't change the gears on your car, in a stick shift car. You couldn't tell the difference between somebody from Texas and somebody from Rome. And the telephone. The telephone. If your mother calls on the miserable telephone, she calls and says, "Hello," you not only know who it is, you know what mood she's in. You have a fantastic ear. Everybody has a fantastic ear. So nobody is tone-deaf.
Men det virker ikke for mig at gå videre med dette med så stort et gab mellem de, der forstår elsker og er lidenskabelige omkring klassisk musik og de som overhovedet ikke har noget forhold til det. De tonedøve mennesker er her ikke længere. Men selv mellem disse tre kategorier er det for stort et gab. Så jeg går ikke videre, før hver eneste person i salen nedenunder og i Aspen, og alle der kigger med har lært at elske og forstå klassisk musik. Det skal vi så til nu.
But I tell you what. It doesn't work for me to go on with this thing, with such a wide gulf between those who understand, love and are passionate about classical music, and those who have no relationship to it at all. The tone-deaf people, they're no longer here. But even between those three categories, it's too wide a gulf. So I'm not going to go on until every single person in this room, downstairs and in Aspen, and everybody else looking, will come to love and understand classical music. So that's what we're going to do.
I bemærker, at jeg ikke er den mindste smule i tvivl om at det kommer til at virke, når I ser på mit ansigt, ikke? Det er et af kendetegnene ved en leder, at han ikke tvivler et sekund på evnerne hos de folk, han leder til realisere, hvad han end drømmer. Forestil jer, at Martin Luther King havde sagt: "Jeg har en drøm. Men jeg er selvfølgelig ikke sikker på, de kan klare det." (Latter)
Now, you notice that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this is going to work, if you look at my face, right? It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he's leading to realize whatever he's dreaming. Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, "I have a dream. Of course, I'm not sure they'll be up to it." (Laughter)
Okay. Jeg tager et af Chopins stykker. Det er et smukt præludie af Chopin, som nogle af jer måske kender. (Musik) Ved I, hvad jeg tror skete her i salen? Da jeg startede, tænkte I: "Det lyder smukt." (Musik) "Jeg tror ikke, vi skal tage det samme sted hen på sommerferie til næste år." (Latter) Det er sjovt, ikke? Det er sjovt, hvordan de tanker ligesom driver ind i dit hoved. Og selvfølgelig - (Bifald) - hvis stykket er langt og du har haft en lang dag falder du måske ligefrem i søvn. Så skubber din sidemand dig i siden og siger: "Vågn op! Det er kultur!" Og så har du det endnu værre.
All right. So I'm going to take a piece of Chopin. This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin. Some of you will know it. (Music) Do you know what I think probably happened here? When I started, you thought, "How beautiful that sounds." (Music) "I don't think we should go to the same place for our summer holidays next year." (Laughter) It's funny, isn't it? It's funny how those thoughts kind of waft into your head. And of course -- (Applause) Of course, if the piece is long and you've had a long day, you might actually drift off. Then your companion will dig you in the ribs and say, "Wake up! It's culture!" And then you feel even worse.
Men er det nogensinde faldet dig ind, at grunden til du føler dig søvnig
(Laughter)
ved klassisk musik er ikke på grund af dig, men på grund af os? Var der nogen, mens jeg spillede, som tænkte: "Hvorfor bruger han så mange impulser?" Hvis jeg havde gjort sådan her med hovedet, ville I helt sikkert. (Musik) I resten af dit liv - hver gang du hører klassisk musik - vil du vide, om du hører de impulser.
But has it ever occurred to you that the reason you feel sleepy in classical music is not because of you, but because of us? Did anybody think while I was playing, "Why is he using so many impulses?" If I'd done this with my head you certainly would have thought it. (Music) (Music ends) And for the rest of your life, every time you hear classical music,
Lad os se på, hvad der virkelig foregår. Vi har et B. Det her er et B. Den næste tone er C. Og C'ets opgave er at gøre B'et trist. Det gør det faktisk, ikke? (Latter) Det ved komponister. Hvis de vil have trist musik
you'll always be able to know if you hear those impulses. So let's see what's really going on here. We have a B. This is a B. The next note is a C. And the job of the C is to make the B sad. And it does, doesn't it? (Laughter)
spiller de bare de to toner. (Musik) I bund og grund er det bare et B med fire trister. (Latter) Nu går det ned til A. Nu til G og så til F. Så vi har B, A, G, F. Og når vi har B, A, G, F hvad forventer vi så kommer? Åh, det var vist bare held.
Composers know that. If they want sad music, they just play those two notes. (Music) But basically, it's just a B, with four sads. (Laughter) Now, it goes down to A. Now to G. And then to F. So we have B, A, G, F. And if we have B, A, G, F, what do we expect next?
Lad os prøve igen. Åhh - TED koret.
(Music) That might have been a fluke. Let's try it again.
(Latter) Læg mærke til, at ingen er tonedøve, ikke? Ingen.
(Music) Oh, the TED choir. (Laughter)
Ser I, hver landsby i Bangladesh og hver lille flække i Kina. Alle ved at: da, da, da, da - da. Alle ved, at de kan forvente det E.
And you notice nobody is tone-deaf, right? Nobody is. You know, every village in Bangladesh and every hamlet in China -- everybody knows: da, da, da, da -- da.
Men Chopin ønskede ikke at ramme E'et der
Everybody knows, who's expecting that E.
for hvad ville der så være sket? Det ville være slut. Ligesom Hamlet. Kan I huske Hamlet? 1. akt, 3. scene: Han finder ud af, at hans onkel dræbte hans far. I husker nok, at han bliver ved med at gå hen til sin onkel og næsten dræbe ham. Så trækker han sig tilbage og han går hen til ham igen og slår ham næsten ihjel. Alle kritikerne, der sidder nede på bageste række er nødt til at have en mening, og de siger: "Hamlet kan ikke tage sig sammen." (Latter) Eller de siger: "Hamlet har et Ødipus-kompleks." Nej, dit fjols - ellers ville stykket jo være slut. Det er derfor Shakespeare skriver alt det i Hamlet. Ofelia der bliver vanvittig, skuespillet inde i skuespillet og Yoricks kranium og graverne. Det er for at forsinke - indtil 5. akt hvor han kan dræbe ham.
Chopin didn't want to reach the E there, because what will have happened? It will be over, like Hamlet. Do you remember? Act One, scene three, he finds out his uncle killed his father. He keeps on going up to his uncle and almost killing him. And then he backs away, he goes up to him again, almost kills him. The critics sitting in the back row there, they have to have an opinion, so they say, "Hamlet is a procrastinator." Or they say, "Hamlet has an Oedipus complex." No, otherwise the play would be over, stupid. (Laughter) That's why Shakespeare puts all that stuff in Hamlet -- Ophelia going mad, the play within the play, and Yorick's skull, and the gravediggers. That's in order to delay --
Det er det samme med Chopin. Han er lige ved at nå E'et
until Act Five, he can kill him.
og så siger han: "Hov, jeg må hellere lige gå op og gøre det igen." Så gør han det igen. Nu bliver han ophidset - det her er ophidselse
It's the same with the Chopin. He's just about to reach the E, and he says, "Oops, better go back up and do it again." So he does it again. Now, he gets excited.
det behøver I ikke bekymre jer om. Nu kommer han til Fis og endelig ned til E men det er den forkerte akkord. Fordi akkorden han søger er denne her og i stedet gør han... Det kalder vi en skuffende kadence, fordi den bedrager os. Jeg siger altid til mine elever: "Hvis du har en skuffende kadence så husk at hæve øjenbrynet, så alle kan se det." (Latter) (Bifald)
(Music) That's excitement, don't worry about it. Now, he gets to F-sharp, and finally he goes down to E, but it's the wrong chord -- because the chord he's looking for is this one, and instead he does ... Now, we call that a deceptive cadence, because it deceives us. I tell my students, "If you have a deceptive cadence, raise your eyebrows, and everybody will know." (Laughter)
Okay. Så han kommer til E, men det er den forkerte akkord. Han prøver E igen. Den akkord duer ikke. Han prøver E'et igen. Den akkord duer ikke. Han prøver E igen og det virker ikke. Og til sidst... Der var en herre på forreste række, som sagde: "Mmm..." Det er den samme bevægelse, som når han kommer hjem efter en lang dag - slukker for bilen og siger: "Ahh, jeg er hjemme." Fordi vi ved, hvor hjem er.
(Applause) Right. He gets to E, but it's the wrong chord. Now, he tries E again. That chord doesn't work. Now, he tries the E again. That chord doesn't work. Now, he tries E again, and that doesn't work. And then finally ... There was a gentleman in the front row who went, "Mmm." (Laughter) It's the same gesture he makes when he comes home after a long day, turns off the key in his car and says, "Aah, I'm home."
Det her er altså et stykke, som tager hjemmefra. Og jeg spiller det hele igennem og I følger det. B, C, B, C, B, C, B - ned til A, ned til G, ned til F. Går næsten til E, men så ville stykket være forbi. Han går tilbage til B. Han bliver meget ophidset. Går til Fis. Går til E. Det er den forkerte akkord. Den forkerte akkord. Den forkerte akkord. Og til sidst til E, og det er hjem. I kommer til at se en-balle spillen. (Latter)
Because we all know where home is. So this is a piece which goes from away to home. I'm going to play it all the way through and you're going to follow. B, C, B, C, B, C, B -- down to A, down to G, down to F. Almost goes to E, but otherwise the play would be over. He goes back up to B, he gets very excited. Goes to F-sharp. Goes to E. It's the wrong chord. It's the wrong chord. And finally goes to E, and it's home. And what you're going to see is one-buttock playing.
Fordi for at jeg kan forbinde B'et til E'et bliver jeg nødt til at lade være med at tænke på hver enkelt tone og begynde at tænke på den lange, lange linie fra B til E.
(Laughter) Because for me, to join the B to the E, I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way, and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E.
Vi har lige været i Sydafrika, og man kan ikke tage til Sydafrika uden at tænke på Mandela i fængsel i 27 år. Hvad tænkte han på? Frokost? Nej, han tænkte på sin vision for Sydafrika og for menneskene. Det var det, der holdt - det her handler om visionen; det handler om den lange linie. Som fuglen der flyver over marken og er ligeglad med skellene under sig, ikke? Så nu følger I linien hele vejen fra B til E. Jeg har en sidste anmodning, inden jeg spiller stykket igennem: Tænk venligst på en person du beundrer, som ikke er her længere. En elsket bedstemor, en elsker en person i dit liv, som du elsker med hele dit hjerte men den person er ikke længere hos dig. Hold den person i tankerne samtidig med at du følger linien hele vejen fra B til E og så vil du høre alt, Chopin havde at sige. (Musik)
You know, we were just in South Africa, and you can't go to South Africa without thinking of Mandela in jail for 27 years. What was he thinking about? Lunch? No, he was thinking about the vision for South Africa and for human beings. This is about vision. This is about the long line. Like the bird who flies over the field and doesn't care about the fences underneath, all right? So now, you're going to follow the line all the way from B to E. And I've one last request before I play this piece all the way through. Would you think of somebody who you adore, who's no longer there? A beloved grandmother, a lover -- somebody in your life who you love with all your heart, but that person is no longer with you. Bring that person into your mind, and at the same time, follow the line all the way from B to E, and you'll hear everything that Chopin had to say. (Music)
(Bifald)
(Music ends) (Applause)
Det kan være I undrer jer over - det kan være I undrer jer over, hvorfor jeg klapper.
Now, you may be wondering -- (Applause)
Altså, jeg lavede det her på en skole i Bostonn for cirka 70 7. klasses elever - 12-årige. Jeg gjorde præcist som med jer og fortalte dem og forklarede dem det hele. Til allersidst klappede de som besatte. De klappede. Jeg klappede. De klappede. Til sidst sagde jeg: "Hvorfor klapper jeg?" Og et af børnene svarede: "Fordi vi lyttede efter." (Latter) Tænk engang. 1600 mennesker, travle mennesker som arbejder med alt muligt forskelligt. Som lytter, forstår og bliver bevæget af et stykke af Chopin. Det er da noget. Er jeg nu sikker på, at hver enkelt person kunne følge det forstod det, blev bevæget af det? Selvfølgelig kan jeg ikke være sikker. Men jeg skal fortælle, hvad der skete for mig.
(Applause ends) You may be wondering why I'm clapping. Well, I did this at a school in Boston with about 70 seventh graders, 12-year-olds. I did exactly what I did with you, and I explained the whole thing. At the end, they went crazy, clapping. I was clapping. They were clapping. Finally, I said, "Why am I clapping?" And one of them said, "Because we were listening." (Laughter) Think of it. 1,600 people, busy people, involved in all sorts of different things, listening, understanding and being moved by a piece by Chopin. Now, that is something. Am I sure that every single person followed that, understood it, was moved by it? Of course, I can't be sure.
Jeg var i Irland under urolighederne for 10 år siden og her arbejdede jeg med katolske og protestantiske børn på konflikthåndtering. Og jeg lavede det her med dem. Lidt risikabelt at gøre, da de var gadebørn. En af dem kom hen til mig næste morgen og sagde: "Jeg har faktisk aldrig lyttet til klassisk musik før men da du spillede det dersens shopping stykke..." (Latter) Han sagde: "Da min bror blev skudt sidste år, græd jeg ikke over ham.
But I'll tell you what happened to me in Ireland during the Troubles, 10 years ago, and I was working with some Catholic and Protestant kids on conflict resolution. And I did this with them -- a risky thing to do, because they were street kids. And one of them came to me the next morning and he said, "You know, I've never listened to classical music in my life, but when you played that shopping piece ..." (Laughter)
Men da du spillede det stykke i går var det ham, jeg tænkte på. Og jeg kunne mærke tårerne løbe ned ad kinderne. Ved du hvad? Det føltes rigtig godt at græde over min bror." I det øjeblik besluttede jeg mig for at klassisk musik er for alle. Alle.
He said, "My brother was shot last year and I didn't cry for him. But last night, when you played that piece, he was the one I was thinking about. And I felt the tears streaming down my face. And it felt really good to cry for my brother." So I made up my mind at that moment that classical music is for everybody. Everybody.
Hvordan ville du gå - for ser I min profession, musik professionen ser det ikke på den måde. De siger, at tre procent af befolkningen kan lide klassisk musik. Hvis bare vi kunne komme på fire procent, ville vore problemer være ovre. Jeg siger: "Hvordan ville du gå? Hvordan ville du tale? Hvordan ville du være hvis du mente, at tre procent af befolkningen kan lide klassisk musik? Hvis bare vi kunne komme på fire procent. Hvordan ville du gå? Hvordan ville du tale? Hvordan ville du være hvis du mente, at alle elsker klassisk musik - de har bare ikke opdaget det endnu." (Latter) Det er to vidt forskellige verdener.
Now, how would you walk -- my profession, the music profession doesn't see it that way. They say three percent of the population likes classical music. If only we could move it to four percent, our problems would be over. (Laughter) How would you walk? How would you talk? How would you be? If you thought, "Three percent of the population likes classical music, if only we could move it to four percent." How would you walk or talk? How would you be? If you thought, "Everybody loves classical music -- they just haven't found out about it yet." See, these are totally different worlds.
Jeg havde en fantastisk oplevelse. Jeg var 45 år jeg havde dirigeret i 20 år, og jeg indså pludselig at: Orkestrets dirigent laver ikke en eneste lyd. Det er mit billede på forsiden af CD'en - (Latter) - men dirigenten laver ikke en eneste lyd. Han får sin kraft gennem sin evne til at gøre andre kraftfulde. Og det ændrede alt for mig. Det var en total ændring af mit liv. Folk fra mit orkester kom hen til mig og sagde: "Ben, hvad er der sket?" Det er det, der skete. Jeg indså, at min opgave var at vække mulighederne i andre mennesker. Og selvfølgelig ville jeg gerne vide om det var det, jeg gjorde. Ved I hvordan man finder ud af det? Man ser på deres øjne. Hvis deres øjne stråler, ved du, at du gør det. Du kunne oplyse en landsby med den her fyrs øjne. (Latter) Okay. Så hvis øjnene stråler, ved du, at du gør det. Hvis øjnene ikke stråler, får du lov at stille et spørgsmål. Og her er spørgsmålet: "Hvem er jeg, siden mine spilleres øjne ikke stråler?" Vi kan også gøre det med vore børn. Hvem er jeg, siden mine børns øjne ikke stråler? Det er en helt anden verden.
Now, I had an amazing experience. I was 45 years old, I'd been conducting for 20 years, and I suddenly had a realization. The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. My picture appears on the front of the CD -- (Laughter) But the conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me. It was totally life-changing. People in my orchestra said, "Ben, what happened?" That's what happened. I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people. And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that. How do you find out? You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. You could light up a village with this guy's eyes. (Laughter) Right. So if the eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question. And this is the question: who am I being that my players' eyes are not shining? We can do that with our children, too. Who am I being, that my children's eyes are not shining? That's a totally different world.
Vi skal nu til at afslutte denne magiske uge på bjerget og er på vej tilbage til verden. Jeg vil mene, det er passende at stille os selv det spørgsmål: Hvem er vi, når vi går ud igen i verden? Jeg har en definition på succes. Det er meget enkelt for mig. Det handler ikke om rigdom, berømmelse og magt. Det handler om, hvor mange strålende øjne jeg har omkring mig,
Now, we're all about to end this magical, on-the-mountain week, we're going back into the world. And I say, it's appropriate for us to ask the question, who are we being as we go back out into the world? And you know, I have a definition of success. For me, it's very simple. It's not about wealth and fame and power. It's about how many shining eyes I have around me.
Nu har jeg bare en sidste tanke, som handler om at det gør en forskel, hvad vi siger. De ord der kommer ud af vores mund. Jeg lærte det af en kvinde, som overlevede Auschwitz en af de få overlevende. Hun kom til Auschwitz, da hun var 15 år gammel og hendes bror var otte, og forældrene var forsvundet. Hun fortalte mig: "Vi var i toget til Auschwitz og jeg så ned og opdagede at min brors sko var væk. Og jeg sagde: "Hvorfor er du så dum, kan du for Guds skyld, ikke holde styr på dine ting?" - som nu en storesøster kan tale til sin lillebror. Desværre var det, det sidste hun nogensinde sagde til ham for hun så ham aldrig igen. Han overlevede ikke. Så da hun kom ud af Auschwitz, afgav hun et løfte. Hun sagde: "Jeg gik ud af Auschwitz og ind i livet og jeg lovede mig selv, at jeg aldrig vil sige noget som ikke kunne være det sidste, jeg nogensinde sagde." Kan vi gøre det? Nej. Vi ville gøre os selv forkerte og andre forkerte. Men det en mulighed at stræbe efter. Tak.
So now, I have one last thought, which is that it really makes a difference what we say -- the words that come out of our mouth. I learned this from a woman who survived Auschwitz, one of the rare survivors. She went to Auschwitz when she was 15 years old. And ... And her brother was eight, and the parents were lost. And she told me this, she said, "We were in the train going to Auschwitz, and I looked down and saw my brother's shoes were missing. I said, 'Why are you so stupid, can't you keep your things together for goodness' sake?'" The way an elder sister might speak to a younger brother. Unfortunately, it was the last thing she ever said to him, because she never saw him again. He did not survive. And so when she came out of Auschwitz, she made a vow. She told me this. She said, "I walked out of Auschwitz into life and I made a vow. And the vow was, "I will never say anything that couldn't stand as the last thing I ever say." Now, can we do that? No. And we'll make ourselves wrong and others wrong. But it is a possibility to live into.
(Bifald) Strålende øjne. Strålende øjne.
Thank you. (Applause) Shining eyes.
(Applause)
Shining eyes.
Tak skal I have. Tak skal I have. (Musik)
(Applause) Thank you, thank you.