the story goes that one orchestra had an arrangement of beethoven’s ninth where the basses had a long stretch with nothing to do in the middle. they tied those pages of the score together, so they could flip easily from their one part to the other. they’d slip backstage and play a hand of poker and pop back onstage for the big finish. well, one night, the one bass player whose wife was expecting got word that his wife had been taken to the hospital and given birth to a fine healthy boy.well, the bass players broke out a flask and consumed a fair amount of it by the time they were supposed to go back on stage. just to recap for those of you who have lost track of where this story is going—- it was the bottom of the ninth, the score was tied, and the basses were loaded.
the story goes that one orchestra had an arrangement of beethoven’s ninth where the basses had a long stretch with nothing to do in the middle. they tied those pages of the score together, so they could flip easily from their one part to the other. they’d slip backstage and play a hand of poker and pop back onstage for the big finish. well, one night, the one bass player whose wife was expecting got word that his wife had been taken to the hospital and given birth to a fine healthy boy.well, the bass players broke out a flask and consumed a fair amount of it by the time they were supposed to go back on stage. just to recap for those of you who have lost track of where this story is going—- it was the bottom of the ninth, the score was tied, and the basses were loaded.