the abstract orchestra
I was tempted to choose the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana , or the overture from Marriage of Figaro , because whenever I think of the St. Pat's Youth Orchestra I think of those first. Almost three years later, the opening notes still pull me immediately back to the very first rehearsal I went to: Judah’s band room at 9:30 at night, sitting in a roomful of musicians who I didn't know yet but already greatly admired, and laughing at the conductor's truly wild mid-conducting anecdotes. Unfortunately I could barely read the music for either piece: we were playing from grainy pdfs printed straight off imslp. By the end of the first concert, though, I was hooked. Church acoustics are addictive. My second idea was the first movement of Beethoven’s 6th symphony Pastoral . I remember practicing over and over again the idyllic opening lick that floats through the strings, and then catches two oboes, whirls around, settles down, and flies up aga