Beethoven's 9th

to those of you who don't know:

I auditioned on flute for the UniWien orchestra in the fall, but because flute is the best instrument and evryone knows it, I didn't make the cut, as the rest of the zillion auditionees are studying in Vienna full time life and I'm only here a year and the conductor wants to build a community in the wind section.
So:
I was however, then asked if I would be interested in playing percussion, possibly triangle? To which I OF COURSE responded, yes.

This is how I found myself for the first time ever learning what it is to be percussion in the orchestra, which is namely, to wait, try to make your entrance correctly, and then laugh at the kid on bass drum to my right and the one on cymbals to my left who keep screwing everything up. (I had practiced the triangle part with Johnny before he left, so I was on the money). With flute, I'm used to being in the middle of everything, but this, this was something else. Especially since I don't even play in the first three movements, and even in my fourth movement I have at least 300 measures of rest. I got to watch EVERYONE. The baritone and tenor soloists were there for the rehearsal and the baritone is a real character. He keep studying his score and mouthing the words really huge, which was entertaining. I have a friend in the cello section so, I kept checking in over there. The fourth movement is a beast for the cellos, they are sawing away like mad. Then I would glance over the violin section and see who was rocking the most intense vibrato and casually make way to the the winds to check out the flutists hand position and intonation. The oboe players move around like crazy, but the clarinets are my favorites. The conductor, who is also my choir conductor, is the kind of guy who hops a lot and jerks around when he conducts, so that's fun.

And then suddenly, it's time for me to play and I get to ring my triangle like it's the end of the world.

We have either 3 or 4 more performances, so I'm excited to get to know this piece inside and out, and to have fun kicking it at the back of the orchestra. I've been asked if I want to play next semester for Tchaik 5 and Borodin Polynesian Dances, and I might just have to say yes. Pourquoi pas?