Bethoven's Ninth
A number of years ago, the Seattle Symphony was doing
Beethoven's Ninth under the baton of Milton Katims...
At this point, you must understand two things:
(1) There's a long segment in this symphony where the bass
violins don't have a thing to do. Not a single note for page
after page.
(2) There used to be a tavern called Dez's 400 right across the
street from the Seattle Opera House, rather favored by local
musicians.
It had been decided that during this performance, after the bass
players had played their parts in the opening of the Ninth, they
were to quietly lay down their instruments and leave the stage
rather than sit on their stools looking and feeling dumb for
twenty minutes.
Well, once they got backstage, someone suggested that they trot
across the street and quaff a few brews. After they had downed
the first couple rounds, one said, "Shouldn't we be getting back?
It'd be awfully embarrassing if we were late."
Another, presumably the one who suggested this excursion in the
first place, replied, "Oh, I anticipated we could use a little
more time, so I tied a string around the last pages of the
conductor's score. When he gets down to there, Milton's going to
have to slow the tempo way down while he waves the baton with one
hand and fumbles with the string with the other."
So they had another round and finally returned to the Opera
House, a little tipsy by now. However, as they came back on
stage, one look at their conductor's face told them they were in
serious trouble.
Katims was furious! And why not? After all...
It was the bottom of the Ninth, the score was tied, and the
basses were loaded.
