[thechat] beethoven's ninth

[rudy]

The Boston Symphony was performing Beethoven's Ninth.  In the piece, there's
a long passage, about 20 minutes, during which the bass violinists have
nothing to do.

Rather than sit around that whole time looking stupid, some bassists decided
to sneak offstage and go to the tavern next door for a drink.  After
slamming several beers in quick succession, one of them looked at his watch.
"Hey!  We need to get back!" he cried.

"No need to panic," said a fellow bassist.  "I thought we might need some
extra time, so I tied the last few pages of the conductor's score together
with string.  It'll take him a few minutes to get it untangled."

A few moments later, the drunk musicians staggered back into the concert
hall and took their places in the orchestra.

About this time, a member of the audience noticed the conductor seemed a bit
edgy. She pointed this out to her date.

"Well, of course," said her companion.  "Don't you see?  It's the bottom of
the Ninth, the score is tied, and the bassists are loaded."