Piano Man - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Pip · 05-17-2005, 01:56 AM

Link to article.

Quote:

Fantastic response to 'piano man'

A helpline set up to identify a mystery man who stunned carers by giving a virtuoso classical piano performance has been inundated with calls.
The man has not said a word since police picked him up wandering the streets of Sheerness, Kent, in a soaking wet suit and tie on 7 April.

His social worker Michael Camp said the man, in his 20s or 30s, is usually very anxious but "comes alive" at the piano.

Orchestras around Europe are being contacted to see if they know him.

The National Missing Persons Helpline is appealing to anyone who recognises the man to come forward.

Mr Camp said there had been a "fantastic" response.

"We have had one definite lead, but I haven't had time to follow it up yet.

"A name has been given of a possible person from the Sussex area.

"We had one of these before, from the local area, and it sounded promising but... we'll just have to wait and see."

The man's talent came to light after staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital gave him a pen and paper in the hope he would write his name.

Instead the patient, dubbed The Piano Man, drew very detailed pictures of a grand piano.

The man shocked staff with a performance of classical music after Mr Camp showed him the piano in the hospital's chapel.

Mr Camp said: "When we took him to the chapel piano it really was amazing. He has not spoken since the day we picked him up.

"He does not make any sounds but I think I can communicate with him through tiny nods."

The man has since written music, which has been verified as genuine.

Mr Camp added: "It is extraordinary. The first time we took him down to the piano he played for several hours, non-stop."

Several lines of inquiry have been followed, and the hospital brought in interpreters to see if the mystery patient was from Eastern Europe.

He is now being held in a secure mental health unit in north Kent while an assessment is carried out. Mr Camp said he was "extremely distressed" and may have suffered a trauma.

'Very frightened'

Karen Dorey-Rees, adult mental health manager for the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust, said the mystery man was very vulnerable.

"He is not talking at all, he is very frightened," she said.

"We are aware that he is a very vulnerable man and we would be putting him in a dangerous situation if we let him go."

She said that the labels had been removed from every item of clothing the man was wearing when he was found on The Broadway in Minster, Sheerness.

The case has drawn comparisons with the 1996 film Shine which depicts the story of acclaimed pianist David Helfgott who suffered a nervous breakdown.

Ms Dorey-Rees was unable to say what music he had played.

"Nobody was skilled enough to recognise the music, they just knew it was classical music and he played very well."

Anyone who has information about The Piano Man is urged to call the National Missing Persons Helpline on 0500 700700.

There's something very intriguing about this story. Especially the fact that someone has bothered with removing all the labels from his clothes. Sheerness lies on the coast just south-east of the mouth of Thames, could he have been thrown or fallen off a ship? My pet theory is that he worked as a pianist on a luxury cruiser and got involved with a woman with a very jealous husband. The husband threw him off the boat after removing the labels from his clothes to hinder the identification because he had read about that in a crime novel.

Cervantes · 05-17-2005, 02:38 AM

Quote:

The man has since written music, which has been verified as genuine.

What exactly does that mean? Genuine music?

Hehe, I like the "Abducted by aliens" theory that has circulated..

Though your's seem a way more plausible.

Isn't it a habit among the rich to cut away the lables on their clothes cause bragging with lables is conciderd cheap and tacky? Remember hearing that somewhere...

Pip · 05-17-2005, 02:59 AM

It was a suit, so I think they meant the tailor/manufacturer labels on the inside of the clothes. You don't have visible labels on suits.

maleficent · 05-17-2005, 03:53 AM

i saw this on the news this morning... the picture of the piano he drew was pretty impressive...

Quote:

"We have had one definite lead, but I haven't had time to follow it up yet.

this is disturbing, you'd think that they would want to followup on it immediately, i know that they are inundated wth tcalls, but to say you have a solid lead, then wait on it- just seems wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
this actually is one of my worst fears, to disappear, and not have anyone that is supposed to care about me notice, or report me missing...

TexanAvenger · 05-17-2005, 04:18 AM

Quote:

We have had one definite lead, but I haven't had time to follow it up yet.

Same response to that as mal. I'm actually slightly worried that they're stalling so they can keep him around...

That aside, this is a really intriguing story. It has a certain... beauty...

Whoever he is, I hope that somebody can step up soon and he can go home, wherever home may be. If he's anxious and nervous enough to not speak for that long, this limelight is the last thing he needs. The quicker he's home, the quicker it'll fade away.

Redlemon · 05-17-2005, 05:19 AM

I smell a scam. I think he knows exactly who he is, and can speak. There are hundreds of great piano players, so how does one break through and get noticed? Get yourself in the news. I predict that there will be a "miracle" by the end of this week and he'll suddenly remember who he is.

jwoody · 05-17-2005, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

this is disturbing, you'd think that they would want to followup on it immediately, i know that they are inundated wth tcalls, but to say you have a solid lead, then wait on it- just seems wrong.

This isn't the NYPD we're talking about here y'know.

We do things at a slower pace over here.

the_marq · 05-17-2005, 06:26 AM

I can't wait for the movie starring Tom Hanks as the Piano Man and Robin Williams as the wacky but sensitive Doctor that gets through to him.

Oscars for everyone!

superiorrain · 05-17-2005, 06:50 AM

They just don't build police cars like that anymore. It is indeed a strange case but sure that by the end of the month we'll all know who he is and he'll be in the Royal Albert hall before christmas.

Elphaba · 05-17-2005, 11:02 AM

The article I read stated that he also had drawn what looked like a flag of Sweden. That might be a good place to start.

TexanAvenger · 05-17-2005, 11:26 AM

Not going after you Elphaba, but the Swedish flag is pretty simplistic... seems like a weak lead.

JustJess · 05-17-2005, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redlemon

I smell a scam. I think he knows exactly who he is, and can speak. There are hundreds of great piano players, so how does one break through and get noticed? Get yourself in the news. I predict that there will be a "miracle" by the end of this week and he'll suddenly remember who he is.

I totally agree. I smell bullshit.
Great idea for a media stunt, though - Very Dramatic!!

flat5 · 05-17-2005, 04:56 PM

Mistory solved. It's Schroeder. Lucy positively identified him.

Apparently he had a breakdown after playing a piano that had real black keys.

Redlemon · 05-18-2005, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flat5

Mistory solved. It's Schroeder. Lucy positively identified him.

Appearently he had a breakdown after playing a piano that had real black keys.

nice!

ShaniFaye · 08-30-2005, 10:27 AM

I didnt know if anyone caught this last week

Quote:

Piano Man' revealed as German
Mystery man discharged and has flown home

Tuesday, August 23, 2005; Posted: 5:27 a.m. EDT (09:27 GMT)

"Piano Man" according to the Daily Mirror was no concert pianist and could barely play a note.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The mysterious "Piano Man" at a British hospital who did not speak to doctors and nurses for four months has been discharged and is back in his home country of Germany.

A spokesman for the West Kent National Health Service and Social Care Trust in southeast England said his condition had shown a "marked improvement" and he no longer needed medical treatment.

The German foreign ministry confirmed that he is a German who flew home Saturday.

"Piano Man" is a 20-year-old from Bavaria, government officials told The Associated Press.

"It was someone who had lost his passport and needed to get back to Germany, and we helped him," a spokesman told AP.

"Under German law on the protection of personal data, I cannot tell you anything more about this man."

British health officials refused to comment on a report in the Daily Mirror tabloid Monday that the man -- who remained silent after being found distressed and soaking wet on a beach in southern England on April 7 -- had finally spoken to staff last week.

The paper added to the mystery by saying "Piano Man" was something of a misnomer.

The Mirror said that his he had misled doctors about an "imaginary illness" and said that far from being a concert trained pianist, he could hardly play a note.

The newspaper said he had previously worked with mentally ill patients and had copied some of their characteristics.

A source described as "an insider" at the Little Brook hospital in Dartford, Kent, told the paper: "He said he drew a picture of a piano because that was the first thing which came into his head.

"When he played the piano in the hospital he didn't play it that well, contrary to all the reports, but just kept tapping one key continuously.

"He admitted that he couldn't play the piano that well at all."

But health trust officials declined to comment on the report.

"The rules regarding patient confidentiality mean that the trust is unable to make any further comment on this story," the spokesman said.

"The trust would like to express its thanks to the many agencies that worked on this case; including the National Missing Persons' Helpline, the police and the local health economy."

Social workers and staff from the National Missing Persons Helpline spent months trying to identify the man.

The Daily Mirror's source said that a nurse had gone into his room last Friday and said "Are you going to speak to us today?" He was said to have answered "Yes, I think I will."

"We were stunned. He has been with us for months and we have got nowhere with him. We thought he was going to be with us forever," the paper quoted the source as saying.

There had been months of speculation ads to the identity of the mystery man. In May he was said to have been identified as a Czech musician called Tomas Strnad. But Strnad appeared on Czech TV to say it was not him.

Media reports in Britain earlier this year said the man had given "a four-hour virtuoso piano performance" after he was found wandering near a beach on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, southern England.

He was wearing a waterlogged dinner suit and tie, from which all the labels had been cut out.

Staff at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham gave the tall, blonde man a pen and paper in the hope he would write his name or draw his country's flag.

Instead, he drew highly detailed pictures of a grand piano.

The case drew comparisons with the Oscar-winning 1996 film Shine, which told the moving story of acclaimed pianist David Helfgott who suffered a nervous breakdown while playing.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe...cnn_topstories

flat5 · 08-30-2005, 12:06 PM

tnx for the followup, ShaniFaye.
What a Letdown.

k925 · 08-30-2005, 07:13 PM

I wonder why they initially said he could play so well...
Do some people think that one note repeated over and over constitutes classical music?

Also makes you remember how reliable the media really is sometimes

JumpinJesus · 08-30-2005, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k925

I wonder why they initially said he could play so well...
Do some people think that one note repeated over and over constitutes classical music?

Also makes you remember how reliable the media really is sometimes

I was thinking the same thing. How'd they hear him tap the same key over and over again and deduce that he was a viruoso? Are they that musically ignorant or was this yet another case of the media getting taken, printing a story without verifying any details, instead running with it because it sounded good.

Which is a shame, because it was a good story.

05-17-2005, 05:19 AM	#6 (permalink)
Redlemon Devoted Donor Location: New England	I smell a scam. I think he knows exactly who he is, and can speak. There are hundreds of great piano players, so how does one break through and get noticed? Get yourself in the news. I predict that there will be a "miracle" by the end of this week and he'll suddenly remember who he is. __________________ I can't read your signature. Sorry.

05-17-2005, 06:50 AM	#9 (permalink)
superiorrain Psycho Location: London	They just don't build police cars like that anymore. It is indeed a strange case but sure that by the end of the month we'll all know who he is and he'll be in the Royal Albert hall before christmas. __________________ "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

05-17-2005, 04:56 PM	#13 (permalink)
flat5 Very Insignificant Pawn Location: Amsterdam, NL	Mistory solved. It's Schroeder. Lucy positively identified him. Apparently he had a breakdown after playing a piano that had real black keys. Last edited by flat5; 05-21-2005 at 08:02 AM..

08-30-2005, 07:13 PM	#17 (permalink)
k925 Tilted Location: Inside an econobox	I wonder why they initially said he could play so well... Do some people think that one note repeated over and over constitutes classical music? Also makes you remember how reliable the media really is sometimes __________________ I can has furburger?

05-17-2005, 02:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
Pip Likes Hats Location: Stockholm, Sweden	It was a suit, so I think they meant the tailor/manufacturer labels on the inside of the clothes. You don't have visible labels on suits.

05-17-2005, 06:26 AM	#8 (permalink)
the_marq All hail the Mountain King Location: Black Mesa	I can't wait for the movie starring Tom Hanks as the Piano Man and Robin Williams as the wacky but sensitive Doctor that gets through to him. Oscars for everyone!

05-17-2005, 11:02 AM	#10 (permalink)
Elphaba Deja Moo Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA	The article I read stated that he also had drawn what looked like a flag of Sweden. That might be a good place to start.

05-17-2005, 11:26 AM	#11 (permalink)
TexanAvenger Born-Again New Guy Location: Unfound.	Not going after you Elphaba, but the Swedish flag is pretty simplistic... seems like a weak lead.

08-30-2005, 12:06 PM	#16 (permalink)
flat5 Very Insignificant Pawn Location: Amsterdam, NL	tnx for the followup, ShaniFaye. What a Letdown.