Everything Strange about Symphony Orchestras

So there’s a lot of things about orchestras that I think is just strange. Since I will probably never be in one, I doubt that they will ever totally make sense to me.

First of all, seriously? People clap when the principal violinist walks in? She hasn’t even played a note yet! And that happens for none of the other instruments, this just feeds into the violinist’s ego. Literally no other group or section does this, and despite people’s attitudes, playing the violin does not make you incredibly more talented than the rest. Sure it takes talent to get there, but I don’t think it warrants this. It just feels so archaic and hierarchical.

And the conductor leaves and then comes back to applause every time? You already entered, just stay on stage! You don’t really need to re-enter every time! It’s pretty much just a waste of the audience’s time. And again, this probably is an ego thing. (It may be a good thing that I’m not in orchestra...)

The wind players hardly play. My jazz/orchestra director in high school had this joke that orchestra trumpets were the most well-read section because they just sat in the back and read literature the entire time. If you are going to write a symphony, give all of the instruments something to do (and while we’re at it, write a saxophone in). It’s not really fair to have the trombones sit there until measure 108 and then play one note and be finished. It’s pretty annoying for the players.

And how do people think solo violin music sounds good? It’s literally a constant squeaking.

I should really stick to band.