At 10:28 AM -0700 5/28/07, Mariposa Symphony Orchestra wrote:
Andrew: I simply do not buy the premise that (and pardon my
simplification of my perception of your premise) if an orchestra
didn't offer regular series of concerts and stay in existence
for.....how many years? 10? 20? 100? then it must be eliminated from
consideration. Does that furthermore mean that if (say) the CSO
goes out of business tomorrow - we strike it from having existed in
the 1890's? Exactly how many years do you feel an orchestra must
exist before it earns some sort of claim on corporeal consideration;
is there an existential orchestral probation period?
My, my, my, this has certainly been the week for arguing semantics,
rather passionately, over arguing reality!! We've established that
"tonal" has at least 3 different meanings to different people, and
that those meanings are mutually exclusive! And now it's WHAT (or
should it be when?) IS AN ORCHESTRA?
May I suggest to both Les and Andrew that arguing from extreme
positions doesn't accomplish much. But Les' questions in the
paragraph above are very practical, not just philosophical, even
though it might not seem that way.
Any scholar, studying any phenomenon, has to do the preliminary job
of "defining his terms." That means making choices and
decisions--and yes, while they may be arbitrary they are certainly
not necessary existential! In fact they MUST be arbitrary, and the
reader of any study needs to understand the premises on which it is
based, which the designer of that study is obligated to make clear.
Semantics. Sometimes can't live with it, but certainly can't live without it!
Andrew appeals to the authority of Spitzer and Zaslaw, regarding
"permanence" being a necessary criterion for recognition as an
orchestra. Les rightly questions how permanent is permanent, since
NOTHING is permanent. Some things are just impermanent longer than
other things!
Andrew rightly points out that a touring orchestra doesn't count as a
town orchestra, and I would extend that to include orchestras put
together for specific festivals but with no regular season, no
regular conductor, and no regular administration. (Want to exercise
your mind? Consider Aspen, Colorado. It "has" an orchestra and a
chamber orchestra as part of the Aspen Music Festival. (I may be a
few years out of date, but I'm assuming that's still the case.) But
those are student or student/young professional orchestras which have
different personnel every year. As far as I know, the town of Aspen
does NOT have an orchestra with consistent membership and reasonable
permanence. So do we count Aspen as having an orchestra or don't
we?!)
But in speaking of Buffalo, Andrew judges that neither the orchestra
from the 1890s, which existed for a decade, or the one from the
1920s, which existed for two years as a summer orchestra, can be
counted as an orchestra, but only the one that evolved into the
present orchestra. Sorry, but an orchestra that played concerts
regularly for 10 years was an orchestra, and its members would be
rather surprised to be made non-persons. I could be convinced either
way about the 2-year orchestra.
So it should be clear that these matters are totally arbitrary.
Andrew has chosen to require permanence until the present day and to
relegate anything else to non-orchestra-land. That seems to me, as
it does to Les, a bit too stringent.
So what would MY arbitrary cutoff be? It would depend on my study
and its purpose, but as always I would tend toward simplicity rather
than complexity. Anything that happens once is a unique
circumstance. There is no such thing as a "First Annual" anything!!!
And anything that happens twice is automatically a "tradition"!! So,
since it is the nature of permanent or semi-permanent orchestras to
give concert seasons, ...
* Any orchestra that produced a concert season of at least two
different programs, under the same conductor, with at least 50% of
the personnel the same, and advertises its offerings under a suitable
name for a minimum of two seasons, should be recognized historically
as having been a bona fide orchestra in its time and place. The two
years is admittedly arbitrary, but there should be no argument about
5 years (with continuity of direction and personnel but not
necessarily identity). Thus I would include Buffalo's Summer Pops
Orchestra under the two-year criterion, even though their season was
only a summer season, since presumably they presented two or more
different programs. It would not meet the 5-year criterion, if that
were your decision. That's the nature of arbitrary decisions.
* Any orchestra organized for a single event, recording session, or
festival is certainly an orchestra, but must be considered a pickup
orchestra with no permanence.
* Any secondary school or college orchestra, including Youth
Symphonies, should be recognized as an educational orchestra, if it
meets the above criteria, and thus most such orchestras DO count as
organized orchestras even though their personnel rotates out on a
4-year schedule.
* Any community orchestra that meets the above criteria should be
recognized as a non-professional community orchestra, whether union
or not; whether dues-paying or not; whether per-service or not;
whether associated with an educational institution as a town-gown
orchestra or not.
See? Completely arbitrary. It has to be. And it doesn't meet
either Andrew's or Les' extreme requirements. But if I moved into a
new area and were looking for an ensemble to join, it would make
awfully good sense to me!!
John
--
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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