What does make an orchestra “good” or “bad” or “mediocre” or “great”? It seems like it should be a simple matter: better orchestras play with more precise and adaptable rhythm, pitch and dynamics than lesser orchestras do.<\/p>\n
But we’ve all been to a Big Five orchestra concert which was severely lacking in one or all of those things, at one time or another (a Philly “Messiah” performance lurks in the terrifying sewer reaches of my distant student memories). I’m sure that many of us have been to obscure orchestra concerts which were exhilarating and relevatory and life-changing, too.<\/p>\n
I think that the defining attribute of a great orchestra, or even just a dependably good one, is esprit de corps. To paraphrase Kurt Cobain, a great orchestra smells like teen spirit. Many of the top orchestras in this country have a direct lineage of their membership that goes back to the very formation of the orchestra. The most celebrated orchestras in this country have a very clear teacher\/student lineage that is remarkably unbroken. People in good\/great orchestras have had a common musical language which was learned before they entered the orchestra, and was reinforced by a music director of relatively long-standing who was often fully resident with the orchestra (rather than a jet-setting guest conductor with which almost every orchestra of any level is saddled today).<\/p>\n
Why is this the topic of my column this week? Well, this past week we learned that our new concertmaster of two years, Amy Schwartz Moretti, was leaving at the end of the season to become Director of the Robert MacDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. This was a stunning blow to many in the orchestra. Truth be told, I don’t think anyone really expected that Amy would stay as a ‘lifer’, but two years was a remarkably short time to have someone of such talent in the chair (even by her own admission – she was intending to stay longer than this, but the opportunity arose, and after much agonizing, she took it) and clearly she had much more to offer the orchestra and the community than the great things she’d already brought in her brief two year stint with us.<\/p>\n
What is interesting to me about this is the pre-announcement vs. post-announcement state of the orchestra that I have observed. The beginning of this season started pretty auspiciously for us – the playing standard was quite high even after our long summer break (approx. June 5 to August 25) and our first run of subscription concerts and rehearsals the previous week were notable for the high spirits of the orchestra and the high standard of playing from nearly every position in the orchestra.<\/p>\n
Then, the announcement. Poorly timed, I think, at the inception of the first rehearsal of our next classical series. The rehearsal was pretty much a wash – many stunned faces, lots of tears and depressed looks at the break, and stoic professionalism for the rest of the rehearsal.<\/p>\n
Now, it feels like our game is off. We have been shaken to our core, which I wouldn’t have believed possible before this, but the swagger is gone, and the customary self-doubts that are endemic to our orchestra have started to resurface.<\/p>\n
This brings to mind a tangent on the state of our orchestral psyche: we’ve been just “ok” for so long, that we’re loathe to admit that we might actually be truly world-class for the first time in our history. People come and hear us with a good conductor and they are stunned that we’re basically the same group that they heard five years ago (though not the same one as 10 years ago, for sure – turnover has taken care of that). So when something happens that is “bad”, we blame ourselves first, then if we really have incontrovertable evidence to the contrary, we grudgingly admit that we are pretty darn good and that is wasn’t our fault. This may be the phase we’re in right now, and another week or so will smooth the way to a continued recovery and looking forward to a bright future.<\/p>\n
UPDATE:<\/strong> It seems (as I figured would happen) that the atmosphere in the orchestra is regaining equilibrium after the news of last week. It could be largely due to fatigue, as we’re in our third consecutive classical subscription series in as many weeks, and with a guest conductor who is less clear than what we’re usually used to, and a difficult and physically taxing program. Our principal violist, Joel Belgique, is sounding incredible in the Harold in Italy <\/em>solo part so far in rehearsals, so if you’re able, make a point of getting to the concerts Sunday afternoon or Monday evening to hear him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does make an orchestra “good” or “bad” or “mediocre” or “great”? It seems like it should be a simple matter: better orchestras play with more precise and adaptable rhythm, pitch and dynamics than lesser orchestras do. But we’ve all been to a Big Five orchestra concert which was severely lacking in one or all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,86,55,3656],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-classical","tag-conductor","tag-orchestra","tag-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1453,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/19\/worlds-top-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":0},"title":"world’s top orchestras?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how one could actually come up with a list like this and keep a straight face, but I guess it's akin to the coaches\/journalists polls that determine college football\/basketball rankings.\u00c2\u00a0 At least orchestras don't have to navigate the inanities of the BCS system... UPDATE: Robert Levine skewers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":374,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/26\/adventurous-programming-and-why-you-should-care-about-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":1},"title":"adventurous programming and why you should care about it","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has recently named those orchestras and organizations which were selected to be honored for \"Adventurous Programming\" during the 2006-2007 season. I also have a connection to a couple of those groups honored, which I'll talk about after the jump.Here are the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4780,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/06\/14\/regional-orchestras-dead-wood\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":2},"title":"regional orchestras dead wood?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Terry Teachout has an article in the Wall Street Journal in which he basically says that if you've got a decent hi-fi at home then you are better off staying home than going to hear some \"third rate\" regional orchestra.\u00a0 What a load of crap. Regional orchestras provide relatively low\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13536,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/07\/the-school-orchestra-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":3},"title":"the school orchestra blues","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This has been making the rounds on various social media sites, so I thought I'd highlight it here. It's pretty accurate. I think that I'll be making my own list for professional orchestras at some point in September, so hit the 'contact me' tab under the 'about' menu item, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s3-ec.buzzfed.com\/static\/2014-07\/25\/9\/enhanced\/webdr05\/anigif_original-15973-1406293924-3.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s3-ec.buzzfed.com\/static\/2014-07\/25\/9\/enhanced\/webdr05\/anigif_original-15973-1406293924-3.gif?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s3-ec.buzzfed.com\/static\/2014-07\/25\/9\/enhanced\/webdr05\/anigif_original-15973-1406293924-3.gif?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s3-ec.buzzfed.com\/static\/2014-07\/25\/9\/enhanced\/webdr05\/anigif_original-15973-1406293924-3.gif?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12599,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/18\/ivan-fischer-on-orchestras-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":4},"title":"ivan fischer on orchestras today","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This was my favorite bit of the relatively brief article from the London Telegraph: \u201cWe have this strange situation where the period ensembles have taken over the really early music, say up to Mozart,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd on the other side you have new music ensembles who play only that.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2856,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/12\/less-touring-for-us-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":78,"position":5},"title":"less touring for US orchestras","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Travel cases for the Oregon Symphony's double bass section sit backstage on tour in 2006. Photo \u00c2\u00a9 Charles Noble An article in Sunday's Times of London talks about the lack of US orchestras at the annual Proms event in Royal Albert Hall. Touring an American orchestra in Europe was always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"142349150_b3aec4ae6b_b","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/142349150_b3aec4ae6b_b-200x299.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}