IJMC - The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Time delayed for sleep, this IJMC is written by a fellow subscriber and 
friend, the illuminating Robert Drake. I think the ASO is a good 
orchestra; they've just been having a little trouble with internal 
politics for a few years. Which makes this gem even better...     -dave







So, Toward the end of the last season, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

There has been a lot of dissent within the ASO with disputes between the
business folks, the orchestra, and the players.

The folks in the string section wanted to make a statement and looked to
the double bass players to do something..

Fortunately, Robert Shaw was conducting that week, and so the players
took a needle and thread and attached the last three pages of the score
together on the opening night of the performance.

Well you can imagine how it went.

The symphone proceeds beautifully until right there in the middle ofthe
Ode to Joy, and they have to stop.  They can't continue.  So they take a
break and the Bass players finish a fifth of scotch between them to
celebrate their victory.

It comes time to restart and you can image the situation.  It was pretty
bleak.  So bleak you should read it out loud to yourself for

It was the bottom of the 9th, the basses were loaded and the the score
was tied!