Play for a Day: Orchestra for Everyone, No Strings Attached

It often happens, somewhere between the 47th repetition of a two-bar phrase and the conductor insisting that we’re somehow playing too loud and too quiet, that an orchestral rehearsal begins to unravel. Tempos crawl, backs begin to ache, and even the most devoted musicians quietly reconsider their choices in life. Remarkably, ‘Play for a Day,’ organised as part of the University Music Society’s 150th anniversary celebrations, managed to avoid this fate entirely.

The event promised a “day” of music-making — mercifully interpreted as a brisk three hours. The occasion brought together members of the Symphony Orchestra, students from a variety of instrumental groups, and musicians from across the community, forming a violin-heavy, cello-light ensemble, with enough woodwind to comfortably populate the back row of the MacPherson Recital Room.

The programme opened with the four iconic, and arguably most famous, notes in classical music: ‘Symphony No. 5’ by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

From there, the energy ramped up with ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ by Modest Mussorgsky, which brought chaos with fiddly chromatic moments in the strings.

There was, apparently, an attempt to include Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture,’ but alas, the music storage cupboard had other plans. While an impressive stash of flute parts was available, suggesting either extreme optimism or the ghost of some long-forgotten flute choir, unfortunately this was paired with only a couple of violin parts. In its place came ‘Symphony No. 4’ by Johannes Brahms, of which the first and final movements were tackled with determination.

In a bold seasonal pivot, excerpts from ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky followed — bringing an unexpected touch of Christmas to the Laidlaw Music Centre. There is something undeniably surreal about hearing festive classics in April, but, quite frankly, no one was complaining.

The day concluded on a high note with ‘Hoedown’ by Aaron Copland, from the ballet Rodeo, a piece that is physically incapable of being anything other than fun. For many, this piece comes with a strong sense of nostalgia — specifically the kind acquired during school holidays in youth orchestras.

In the face of logistical absurdity, musical challenges, and the ever-present threat of rehearsal fatigue, 150 years later, ‘Play for a Day’ proved that the Music Society can always orchestrate a good time.

Photo by James Ross