The document discusses the history and evolution of the orchestra from its origins in Italy and Germany to its current form. It describes how the orchestra became a professional institution requiring extensive funding to operate. While this professionalization separated the amateur from musical performance, orchestras still rely on cultivating new audiences. The summary also touches on the difficult balance orchestras must strike in selecting new works for their repertoire that are both familiar yet innovative.

1. The Orchestra: From Chicago to Milano, an Institution
Historical Context
Orchestra as we know it today spread from Italy, Austria, and Germany to Europe
and beyond. This turning point in ensemble history depended on three factors:
standardization and refinement of the orchestra; sociological shift in the rise of the
concert and music printing; and creation of classical style. Combined with the social,
political, cultural, aesthetic, economic, and technological shifts, demands, and
discoveries, the orchestra is continuously evolving and breathing as a musical creature
that can adapt to any request. With the help of a conductor, whose exhaustive duties
include being a metronome, artistic director, socializer, fundraiser, researching scholar,
guide, disciplinarian, mentor, and inspirer, the orchestra brings music to, “resounding
life.” (Discussed in detail below) As one can see, the role is only partly musical, but the
success of the orchestral unit and the music itself depend on this person, directly. A
fragile balance in every aspect of the job description is absolutely necessary: sufficiently
impressive to draw in enough listeners, but not to so much as to distract; respect for
classical repertoire, but still ambitious enough to premiere new works; court enough
donors to make the concert a reality, but not take too much time from the music; keep up
to date on new research on authenticity, but still have an idea of how the music should
sound; demand much in the rehearsal setting, but still leave some emotion and
improvisation for the concert. Together, the orchestra and the conductor “reach out for
perfection.”
Orchestral music has always been the most prestigious of all forms of
instrumental music. Due to the works’ size, public nature, and existence at the forefront
of stylistic change the symphony, concerto, overture, symphonic poem, and suite form
the DNA of the orchestra. However, instrumental music has not always been the
orchestra’s primary role. For the first century an a half of its existence, the orchestra
served almost exclusively to provide music for stage works, as either accompaniment or
intermedii, the lavish performances between acts. The affective power of this ensemble,
so crucial to dramatic development, was first displayed in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in 1607.
The musical – dramatic integration achieved by Wagner or Verdi would have been
inconceivable even a few years earlier, but instead reveals how significantly music’s role
in dramaturgy had shifted forever. Whether “slavishly doubling,” or completely
detached, the proportion and importance of instrumental music in opera has continued to
grow in the post-Wagnerian era. At the same time, orchestras have also begun to perform
their opera – based music as separate concert programs. This decision could be based on
efficiency, to some extent, but it also enriches the concert program and highlights great
orchestral music that might otherwise be ignored.
The orchestra has maintained a following , one might claim, because its job is to
highlight emotion, whether or not the composer was aware of that specific emotion! This
quickly becomes a daunting task when considering the unprecedented diversity in
aesthetic, style, and technique. With music ranging from “bizarre” to imitations of
ancient styles, accessible to impossibly complex, it is hard to remember that many

2. consider the diversified creations unified. This claim does not concern language, but
rather a common problem and strategy for solving it, through music; the diversity in new
music for the orchestra is a necessary part of the composers’ responses.
At the other end of the spectrum from new music, one must remember the
retrospective nature of the orchestral repertoire. Not too long ago, Haydn’s works would
have been performed very few times over a brief period; however, by the middle of the
nineteenth century, the orchestra had been transformed into a museum for the display of
great works from the past. The “classics” of the orchestral repertoire have immortality in
the audience’s eyes, forming the canon of standard works. The only way for “New”
music to enter this coveted stage is through the living composers themselves or music
historians, who revive forgotten music of past generations. However, the incumbent or
reigning champions have an overwhelming advantage. Both the crowded repertoire and
prestige of established works make it all but impossible to achieve extended performance
exposure within major orchestras.
As a museum of art, modern music struggles with the great music of the past for
orchestral airtime. The modern concert hall chooses to display this “classical” music
without its context. Although the rise of concerts brought with it new music solely for a
performance, many of the immortal works routinely performed by orchestras around the
world have their original purposes stripped. Some claim this process makes the pieces no
longer the same; they cannot be the same, since different people listen with very different
expectations of the music. Thus, the business of giving concerts applies, externally, new
standards to the music. This process significantly intensifies our experience of a piece as
a work of art. At a concert, aesthetics are the focus, not the original practicality, if such a
use existed; with attentive concentration, listeners evaluate each work according to how
richly it rewards the exposure. Orchestras, thus, directly control the fate of a piece as
masterpiece or forgotten memory. Music that stands up to such intense concentration
must not be merely entertaining, not merely spectacular, and not associated with any
particular ritual outside of concertgoing. The select few pieces of music for the museum
are pure art – for their own sake – where each listener, alone, forms an individual
aesthetic experience taken very seriously.
While preservation has obviously been successful, cultivation of the new is not as
simple. As an art museum, the orchestra is ahistroical. Experiences are personal and
immediate, encountered in the present moment with no history. The history of why,
where, and how a piece was composed serves only as a way to refine expectations. Other
than as preparation for hearing music, a piece’s history does not matter and, furthermore,
cannot compensate for a work’s lack of aesthetic appeal. The orchestra is living; the
pieces are living; the orchestra hall is a collection, or rather, display, of living things from
each era. As such, the orchestra invites the creation of new music from this era to be
displayed next to previous masterpieces. The catch is that the creation must be on the
system’s own terms. New music must behave like music already in the repertoire,
meeting expectations of both performers and audience. Some markets display a constant
thirst for novelty. The orchestral market is not this market. Old pieces constitute the
repertoire. Instead of old pieces falling out of the repertoire as quickly as new pieces
come along to replace them, the core changes slowly, if at all. Only peripheral works
leave the repertoire, and the newest entries remain the most peripheral. The fact that
orchestras invite the creation of new music seems rather hollow, and futile if sincere.

3. Criteria For Success
Complicating the process even more than just the number and quality of works
already in the canon is the fact that expectations have become so difficult to achieve that
directors and listeners no longer agree on which pieces should belong in the repertoire, let
alone the criteria for making decisions. In any attempt to outline these expectations,
dedicated composers encounter contradictory demands from performers, audiences, and
critics, including lasting value, links to tradition, individuality, and familiarity. If it is not
obvious how subjective these guidelines already are, the “association clause” makes it
crystal clear. The more central a work is to the repertoire, the more often it is performed,
refusing to fade after numerous exposure. Some purely functional pieces do not last, but
other compositions, no less worthy, receive modern performance not because of their
own merit but simply because they are by a composer whose larger works have become a
central part of the repertoire.
The longevity and endurance of a piece that is so important is also so temporary
and dependent. Classics must not just be classics in their respective genres, but “art
music” as the museum defines it. All candidates must be part of the “Western” tradition,
with a specific test of time. Thus, however ironically, music that may have been popular
or utilitarian in Verdi’s time may be art music now, but considering the current popular
music seems ridiculous. In addition to popular music, tradition requirements also exclude
art music that seems too radically innovative. Even when given many years of hindsight
to realize the historical significance of works, composers must link music with the past
and how logically it resulted from past development in the history of music. When
encountered with unknown music, we can only begin to understand them by placing them
in the framework of the familiar, but this limit is balanced by the fact that a piece cannot
be too similar to music already in the repertoire. Being both traditional and innovative
presents a particularly fine-lined challenge to composers.
Finding this distinctively individual style is paramount. Critics and audiences
alike demand personal stylistic differences both between composers, and even within a
single composer’s résumé. The great composers are esteemed for the strength of their
personalities, so new composers must have an equally distinctive personality to be
considered by an orchestra. Each generation has responded to this demand, to the degree
that music sounds as different among contemporaries as it does in very different eras.
Whereas old pieces heard for the first time can be fairly accurately identified based on
similarities with known hallmarks, when composers of new music set out to define
themselves the resulting style could easily be unlike any known idiom. Herein lies the
problem with recruiters for new canon-members, which transfers to the orchestra
planning its season: the more unfamiliar a piece is, the more likely it will be difficult for
listeners to understand and enjoy it on the first hearing; the les enjoyable or
comprehensible a work is on first hearing, the less likely it will receive the repeated
hearing that allows it to become familiar and well loved. Attempting to make inadequate
comparisons is just as likely to help, as it is to confuse, in approaching modern
composer’s work. Next, valiant attempts to differentiate music makes it more difficult
for modern music as a whole to appeal to a wide audience. Even attempts to connect
with other kinds of contemporary music offer little help, since so many of the potential

4. inks have been broken. Orchestras, then, must cultivate new music that is both familiar
and lovable and, while this may seem to place limits on a composer, it also develops a
narrow, “creative tension” between what is familiar and what is unique in the orchestra.
This is harder than one would think when the audiences are waiting for the next star
conductor’s interpretation of Beethoven and standard works, not new music. An even
more frustrating balance imposed on the composer is that of the one between immediate
and lasting value. Without this equilibrium, a piece can only hope to disappear into
oblivion (after a immediate appeal) or find niche-limited success.
For those orchestras attempting to find the next great master, the only thing one
can guarantee is the unpredictability of fame. Considering the elusive intrinsic quality,
politics, publicity, influence, and not to mention accident, so much depends on future
generations of orchestras, their conductors, critics, composers, and performers
enthusiastically campaigning and promoting the music. Orchestras must give
performance opportunity to these composers who choose to write music that will be rich
enough to stay alive, disregarding the lack of appeal. It is a true dilemma for the music
director when composers approach the point where composers proclaim unpopularity to
be a virtue in new music. The director’s job becomes even more difficult when the
criteria for evaluation must be applied to a repertoire that is so very heterogeneous. By
genre, classical music has no definite style, as it as a collection of many different
countries and generations. Whereas previous masters achieved fame by putting a stamp
on the prevailing style of their place and time, no such dominant style presents itself for
copyright. Composers and orchestras must thus find alternative methods for originality.
Balancing Act Continues
Many claim the unifier among the Western diversity is a natural, singular
evolutionary process that organizes the history into a coherent pattern. Between being
shaped by laws of nature and aesthetics, honoring the idea of progress, and finding some
synthesis of the two, composers guaranteed the continuity of the tradition By necessity,
pieces are classical in aspiration and inspiration yet wholly individual, therefore making
emulation and progress two sides of the same direction. With some feelings of another
balance, it is important for the composer to offer music that is in some senses old, and in
other ways, modern. Whether intensifying some common element, applying one new
element within a traditional setting, reinterpreting an aspect or trying to create something
that is like classical music yet different, it is ultimately up to the orchestra to decide in
what direction to go. Orchestras are beginning to seek a more varied repertoire, but the
orchestra’s attempts to embrace modernity will be on their audience’s terms.
Amateurs and Professionals
The current situation is far removed from the days of Beethoven. Then everybody
seemed to know how to play. Music was looked upon as something easy, that one could
learn in passing. Conversely, today New York’s music scene is precisely the opposite.
Music has become a business, where 150 concerts are given in a single New York week
within the many concert halls. Players are polished graduates of the finest conservatories
and hire artist-management or public – relations firms to book them around the country.

5. “Everything is professional, everything is marketable, but very little is worth hearing.
Enormous quantities of music are consumed but none of it means much…The concert
world is taken over by incompetent soloists and by overcompetent orchestral conductors
who streamline the already predigested classics to a point of suavity where they go
through everybody like a dose of castor oil.” Musical culture is now at the point of
decadence, but is still unable to reach he mainstream public. For all the economic
prosperity, orchestras play mostly nineteenth-century music, but do not sound
considerably better than 20 years ago; orchestras maintain a dedication to inherited music
without embracing new music; and for all the expanding audiences from grants,
recording, promotion, and more concerts, musical illiteracy and lack of contact with the
making of music have never been more prevalent among nonprofessionals.
Some blame this decline in the vitality of musical life on the disappearance of the
amateur. In the past, training in musical skill was required for any aspiring person.
Those home players were also ready to play in public, so the public musical life
developed quickly, creating a social role for the orchestra itself. In a sense the orchestra
is now living out the destiny established so many years ago, when it became institution
that required extensive income to maintain itself in the image developed by sponsors.
Eventually, the orchestra became completely professional and closely affiliated with the
local city. However, the two lives never merged; the amateurism and professionalism
complement each other. Amateurs attended concerts to see hero-musicians who had risen
from “life,” but they were still in contact with everyday life. Both amateurs and
professionals sacrifice their personal musical ambitions for the ensemble, whether the
orchestra or that of daily life. As music appealing to the amateur became harder and
harder, it transcended the amateur’s ability but could not touch desire, thus creating the
amateur listener. There are lessons for the orchestra in this transformation, since
orchestras’ ability to captivate the audience can – and usually should – transcend the
audience’s ability, but always respect position as listener, challenged only so much.
Similarly, orchestras must remember their origins. Some call the professionalization of
orchestras dangerous, but not necessarily. Such critics claim something is being
sacrificed by the removal of music from amateur’s hands, but “out of every ten people…
nine and three-quarters must have acquired their knowledge of it as amateurs and from
amateurs.” Thus, raising the bar for future amateurs is occurring, but professionals must
still be amateurs who rose through the ranks from increased ability. If one claims the
professional musician requires that music support him instead of being supported by him,
then one assumes that the professional musician does not teach, educate, publicize, or
promote his familial orchestra. This is not the case.
A reality that one must accept is the increasing demand for quality. First with the
introduction of the player piano, then recordings, then the shifting of importance from the
amateur soiree to the concert hall’s opening night, and concerts in general. Somehow, as
this occurred society disturbed the cultural ambition of the amateur, separating musical
education and playing. Orchestras have managed to recombine some aspects of a “crash
course” preceding the more difficult concerts, and this should be applauded. Such
involvement strengthens the relationship between audience and listener, in addition to
further intensifying the musical experience. As people accepted the fact they can only
share in the rewards of other musicians’ successes, the orchestra began to become

6. recognized by society. It is true that many of these same people become professional
listeners who more attuned to the performance due to their training, but orchestras must
avoid, at all costs, the tendency to apply “mere recitation.” As orchestras develop a new
piece’s appreciation, they repeat it; if one remembers a child demanding his favorite story
be read in exactly the same manner as the first time, one understands to what the
orchestra is appealing. Orchestras naturally want to maintain a fresh quality to each
performance, but also want to appeal to their audience’s wishes. Some are hearing a
piece for the first time, while others are listening to the piece as a reminder of previous
emotions. In the attempt to appeal to the amateur listener, as opposed to the professional,
many orchestras also perform works with more easily accessible melodies, harmonies,
and even assimilating aspects of popular culture. Such Pops concerts can be detached or
combined with more classical music in an attempt to expose listeners to other kinds of
music.
The orchestra’s involvement with new music, or lack thereof, has both been
blamed on the conductor and regarded as victim of itself. Regardless of cause and effect,
the conductor and orchestra alike will continue to suffer until the conductor is allowed to
regain the position as creative link between composers and audience. The performance
can never be truly controlled by the conductor or otherwise, but the orchestra itself can
either cultivate an open, welcoming atmosphere for innovation or one that is involved in
simple recitation.
Conductor’s role
This man or woman is solely responsible for the way things go. Whether
considered the driver of the vehicle, or some other metaphor, it is the manner in which it
is driven that matters. Much depends on perception in this vital relationship. Throughout
the past, sources of this position have come from the concertmaster, continuo – player, or
someone else within the orchestra. With every single quality or trait, there are conductors
at each end of the spectrum, so the orchestra must just find someone who successfully
creates beautiful music and directs the orchestra in a successful manner, given their
particular time and place.
People have always agreed that the composer-conductor has the best ability to
pull the music out of the ensemble, but the job does not stop here. If either the conductor
or the ensemble views the other negatively in any respect, relationships will quickly
deteriorate. An important component of this relationship includes money and
compensation. These vary considerably from orchestra to orchestra, but within an
orchestra, players pay close attention to the comparisons of fairness. Some orchestras
have gone to equal pay for everyone to eliminate this source of tension.
In addition to just conducting, the professional conductor must get works accepted
by the performing musicians and the conservative public. He must inspire and discipline
the performers; ideally, the musicians want to both play with and for the conductor.
What makes the conductor’s job so difficult is that as the conductor “you must have the
score in your head and not your head in the score.” The conductor may design the
program itself, study the scores, and inspire great music; he must have a quality
interpretation, which art of its own. The balance for any orchestra is to find someone

7. with personality and individuality, but also technical correctness; some claim that there is
a tradeoff between showmanship and being a reliable interpreter, but hopefully not.
If one remembers the orchestra as a museum of art, then the conductor is the
curator. It is up to the orchestra and conductor whether they play the same piece at home,
on tour, and when having guest conductors to expedite the process, or if they will take the
challenge of learning new pieces. Some regard this and the other aspects of role, status,
characteristics, and differences between conductors as superficial or inessential to the
accomplishment of musical ends, but this temptation is dangerous.
Management
Within the orchestral hall, much parallels the outside word, where unique individuals of
varying skills and temperaments are bound together for the sole purpose of the
production. It is revealing to point out the fact that musicians refer to cities themselves,
such as Berlin, New York, Chicago, when discussing their related orchestras, but with no
mention of the word. As such, the orchestra and manager have profound effects.
General manager
Very highly paid, but never know when the phone will ring
The old concept of “The job of a manager is to manage,” is outdated.
Enormous compensations and prestige
Being in the swim of the world’s musical life
Most have little authority of their own
The playing is what matters, so cannot simply get rid of someone because a pain
Reduce rising temperatures by soft words, calling meetings and explaining
Unions complicate matters dramatically
Must maintain the equilibrium and a cool head at all times
Cannot ever imagine that he has a single friend among the players
Must not refuse to have a drink with the musicians
Can’t meet the same ones
Live on a different plane
But meet them on theirs, never at his own
Can’t appear to be refusing the players anything
Never be too busy to answer a question
Never disinterested/ unamused
When to be at the right place at the right time
Prevent anything bad
Those who hate the manger will always want him in times of trouble
Sexual tensions, jealousy, etc are many problems
Conductor must stay removed from this
Must regard the people and job compassionately
Exhausting
Always in the office, people give the manager a hard time about it
Part of the job if you take the job to heart

8. Fixer
Person who has the list of players for all instruments when a substitute is needed
Much overlap, yes, but each orchestra has its own musical bible
Auditions for the permanent vacancies
Berlin auditionees play for the entire orchestra
Others are more secretive
Others have an outside assessor
Attendants
Considered part management
May pass on information to the manager
Part of a plan if management agrees
Otherwise, make sure he knows it is not his duty to interfere
Live only indirectly related to the music, but know much about it
Must be able to do almost anything
Great loyalty
Word-of-mouth
Knows his duties, and about all the players moods/ whims
Don’t put up with the absurdity of musicians
Can say things that others cannot
Sources of information / wisdom to players
Duties
Packing instruments
Transportation
Setting up
Instinctive knowledge of distances between chairs/ stands
Set up larger instruments
Musicians, if at all possible, stay in charge of their own instruments
Must be available at all times
Conductor’s personal servant
Keep fans and wives out after the concert

9. Librarian
Read music fluently
Retired orchestral player or maybe even still playing
Understand orchestral routine perfectly
Hires all scores/ parts
Ensure everything is clean and fit to play from
Check unsure notes
Knowledge of music publishers, personalities, musical works
Must know every players’ parts
Have pieces in different pitches, in case
Places on correct stands
CASE STUDY: Chicago to Milano

10. Whereas American orchestras are historically supported by bi businesses,
European orchestras make up the huge difference between soaring costs and ticket prices
with state support. Gone are the days where one wealthy patron can support an orchestra

11. alone. Typically, European orchestras have much better “life coverage,” but American
orchestras and unions are quickly adding pensions and holidays.
Chicago was once the “dirty job” city of America, an aspirer of cultural things,
not participant. Music had entered into a new era, where it was no longer a class
privilege; instead, it is only based on ability and desire to pay ticket price. Many claim
Chicago did not really have the support necessary to bring in a professional orchestra.
There is strong evidence supporting the claim that Chicago was unprepared in both
support and professionals since the founder had to bring 60 people in from New York to
form the nucleus of the new orchestra. In 1891, though, he successfully found enough
wealthy support. Just as Thomas overcame the initial problems, though, he died.
Eventually, the organization changed name of the orchestra away from Theodore Thomas
to ensure the city’s connections and advertising potential. Following Thomas’ death,
Stock founded the Civic Orchestra. The Civic orchestra ensured steady stream of trained
young musicians to prevent any future restrictions on the orchestra’s growth. Even with
this protection, wartime brought insecurity for the orchestra. In addition, Stock
established popular concert series and series especially for children. He was the first one
to add pensions for Chicago players.
As an American orchestra, Chicago has a much more demanding schedule than its
European counterparts. Chicago was below average in respect to aesthetic sophistication
and curiosity, developed early in the orchestra’s history since Thomas never
compromised with anyone. He condescendingly offered popular programs, evidence of
his appraisal of the city’s level of sophistication. Since then, though, Chicago has come a
long way, as Chicago and Boston are considered champions of new music. In fact,
people describe Chicago’s repertoire as one of the most diverse and catholic. In 1941, for

12. example, the CSO commissioned five pieces for their 50th birthday, including works by
Stravinsky, Milhaud, Harris, Kodaly, and Walton.
In Chicago’s recent history, Solti and Barenboim have had relatively long lives
with the orchestra. In 2006, Bernard Haitnik became the principal conductor and Pierre
Boulez, conductor emeritus, all in preparation for Riccardo Muti to become Musical
Director for the 2010 season, continuing the relationship that began in 1973. Hopefully,
this man’s reputation as inflexible and authoritarian will not lead to another petition
asking him to resign. As discussed, though, each orchestra is a unique life all its own.
The CSO is a 106-player orchestra, with a 30-week season, five concerts each
week. Since 1911, the orchestra has participated in the Ravinia summer festival.
Chicago, too, has maintained a beautiful space. In 1904, the hall was built for $750,000,
but the recent renovation of Orchestra Hall and the encompassing Symphony Center cost
$110 million. The orchestra offers twelve dollar student tickets, but reserved seats start
around thirty. Interestingly, Chiago has one of the largest and most comprehensive
libraries of scores and parts in the world – 3,000!

13. On the other side of the globe, Italy did no have its own symphonic work until 1881,
since musical language and opera were its historical inputs. In Milan, Teatro alla Scala
was build on August 3rd, 1778 to replace the burned Royal Ducal Theater. It originally
presented opera buffa before adding opera seria and ballet. Famous conductor Toscanani
arrived in the 1880s and brought radical reform with him. He revamped the
organizational aspects, dealt more with public relations, began the la-Scala-Verdi
tradition, increased interest in Richard Wagner, and most importantly began to include
symphonic music. Since World War II, where bombs destroyed much of la Scala,
Lucciano Berio, Riccardo Muti, and Claudio Abbado have conducted at this institution.
In 1982, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala was established before the Foundation
brought la Scala under private ownership. Along with this, much modernization has
beautified la Scala. On December 7th, 2004, Muti reopened the restored Scala, and la
Prima of the 2007-2008 season began a close collaboration between Barenboim and la
Scala.
As discussed, la Scala enjoys three state groups’ support: Amici della Scala,
Amici del Loggione, and Milano per la Scala. Performers are essentially free agents who
rent the theater and are paid extra. The fact that this check is separate from normal opera
work, as the players are drawn from the opera orchestra, allows much political action to
happen withn this organization. Tickets cost between five and 85 euro for the normal
tickets, but this does not include boxes and other types of seats. The Scala orchestra
performs much less often, sometimes only once a month. However, they bring in world-
famous orchestras, in addition to traveling around the world themselves. The demands of
the Scala setting are unusual since there are sometimes two performances each day,
which means an entire opera set has to be brought on following the mid-day orchestra
performance!
Management Settings

14. Orchestral Life
The life of orchestral musicians can either be rewarding, challenging, exciting,
frustrating, exhausting, or unfulfilling. Many professionals do not predict the tension
they feel from the lack of personal expression experienced within the ensemble. For the
director or programmer, ideas present themselves. Offering opportunities for trio,
quartet, and quintet playing; solo playing within and without the larger orchestra; or
chamber ensemble playing both exposes the public to more of the genre and keeps
musicians refreshed for the best orchestra performances. Orchestras are more
consultative than in previous generations and seen as a community, so management must
focus on preventing any schism creating a feeling of “them and us” from developing.
Alternatively, by maintaining a more democratic system, professionals treat their job not
like a nine-to-five, but a more intimate relationship for which they give all their emotion,
effort, and focus. Simply by keeping the musicians informed and involved with the
decisions, orchestras and their managers can formulate much more effective and efficient
results.
Due to the high costs of all professional musical activities, increasing the number
of performance opportunities increases profits or decreases costs. Touring is an
important part of an orchestra’s life. Both international and domestic tours are
integral to an orchestra’s livelihood, due to both awareness and rewards. Tours
are expensive, but sponsors help to reduce monetary pressure to make them a
break from the concert routine. On the other hand, exhaustion is typical in the
process of developing an international profile:
7:00 Coaches to airport
8:00 Check-in
9:00 Flight
10:40 Coaches to new hotel
11:00 Arrive at new hotel, rooms not ready
11:10 leave suitcases, go to lunch
5:00 Coach to hall
5:45 – 6:30 Seating rehearsal
7:30 Concert
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT
Demands of delivering incredibly high standards of performance that can
potentially cause players to be anti-social, in addition to poor pay and bad
conditions, make the orchestral job quite stressful. As competition and economic
pressures increase, the anxiety of the profession increases. More important than
audience-driven stress, though, according to performers, is the pressure from peers
as the demands of the music steadily increase. Players have found endless cures
for these stresses, some healthier than others: prescribed drugs, alcohol – for
which they will be fired, jogging, yoga, meditation, Alexander Technique, and

15. many other coping mechanisms. Health and safety in other areas of a musician’s
life are also very important, whether protecting one’s hearing or otherwise.
Today’s orchestra is much more than music. With the growth of
musicology, the educational role has never been more important. Technological
developments have only begun to impact this traditional ensemble. It should be clear
from the case study how interconnected the world’s music organizations are. They all
share the same problems and joys. Orchestras may not look the same as they do,
currently, and the numbers of economically viable orchestras may decrease, but there will
always be an audience for the orchestra. Hopefully, orchestras will find some way to fill
the seats, whether with drama, lasers, and a camera down the clarinet, or with beautiful
music alone.

16. Appendix
Possible Seating Arrangements…and Placement of Bass Section

19. Orchestral Concert Composition and Distribution

20. Popularity in American VS International Setting

22. Battle Between Current and Canon Composers

23. As this happens…

24. This must, as well…

25. Works Cited
**Many sections of this paper are paraphrases, excerpts from many books, so no in-
text documentation was used**
"Chicago Symphony Orchestra." <http://www.cso.org>.
Correspondent. "A Century of Art at La Scala." The Musical Times and Singing Class
Circular 37 (1896): 603-04.
Douglas, C. W. "Arturo Toscanini." Music Educators Journal 54 (1968): 69-71.
Filippi, Filippo. "La Scala at Milan." Musical Times 25 (1884).
Harwood, Gregory W. "Verdi's Reform of the Italian Opera Orchestra." 19th-Century
Music 10 (1986): 108-34.
Hurd, Michael. The Orchestra. New York, NY: Quarto, 1980.
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