The little match orchestra

Preface: I'm no Scrooge during the holidays. My house is promptly decked with boughs of holly, blinky fiber optic lights, and tons of friggin' cheer immediately in the days after Thanksgiving. But being in the "biz" does expose one to an inordinate amount of repetition as we kick off the holidays for thousands of you out there. So we may play jazz instead of Jingle Bells on our stereos, and have a fondness for hot buttered rum. But hey- Happy Friggin' Holidays, and all the best in the New Year!!


Grinchy Holiday Musings:

Shopping in a store playing holiday music: Has anyone done a study of professional musicians' spending habits during the holidays? I bet catalog/internet sales are disproportionally WAY WAY up compared to other employees in other fields, with the possible exception of retail employees. Ah, the bliss of shopping in merciful holiday jingle-free silence with only the accompaniment of your fingers click,click, clicking away.

Dining in a restaurant playing holiday music: One time a bunch of us went out to eat at the end of a weekend of 6 Christmas Pops concerts. Not surprisingly, the soundtrack playing at the restaurant contained about 90% of the program we had done. Luckily, the manager was sympathetic to our request to change the music to something else. "What," he asked, "you girls in retail?"

Conductors with big heads and no arms: No, this is not some snide figurative conductor joke. I HAVE been conducted many a time by Santa (big head and belly) and Frosty the Snowman (big head, no arms). Frosty's the stuff of nightmares...those soulless licorice eyes staring at you...and as to the beat, are you supposed to follow the claw-like tree branch arm, or the carrot nose? And all that wet, wet snow being flung everywhere, landing on your instrument, eating away the varnish... Actually, I have a fond memory of the last time we were conducted by Frosty because the very next person to conduct us was Former President, Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter. And he's not scary at all. Smiley and full of peanutty goodness.

The little match orchestra: Remember that really sad story of The Little Match Girl? If only the Houston Symphony had matches to burn on stage last Thursday when we were playing outside at the Woodlands Pavilion as the cold front was coming in. We had heaters blowing through duct pipes at our feet, but remember in science class? Hot air rises, cold air sinks? With cold air coming onto the stage from a huge open space- the outdoors- and hot air being blown onto the stage at floor level, a circular air/wind motion was created, in effect warm and cold fronts. The hot air circulating upward and forcing the cold air to circulate downward made for extreme weather conditions on stage. Instruments were cracking, cold, stiff muscles were cramping, and viruses were taking hold. To make matters worse, the backdrop was of giant snowflakes. For this Little Match Orchestra, perhaps chestnuts roasting on an open fire would have been a warmer choice.