Last Friday evening the Markgräfler Symphonieorchester had our dress rehearsal. Saturday and Sunday were the two performances. We played a Haydn overture (The Deserted Island), then a Haydn oboe concerto, and finished with Tchaikovsky’s first symphony.
On Sunday a photographer came to get a picture of the orchestra, but he showed up late. The whole orchestra was sitting around waiting for him, making jokes here and there. He arrived wearing a red knitted cap and a scruffy appearance. Dieter, the older man sitting next to me, cracked a joke: “If he shaved himself a little better, maybe he would be able to see his watch!”
Concerts can be interesting times to get to know other people within an ensemble. I had a fascinating conversation with a violist in the orchestra who said that Shakespeare is his god. He doesn’t believe in God – he used to be an atheist, but studied a bunch of philosophers and had some doubts. Now he’s agnostic. I asked if he had ever read the Bible; he said he likes the book of John, but that’s it. Maybe when rehearsals start up again I’ll be able to have some more discussions with him about the Bible.
