Darmowe konto pozwoli wrócić do niego później.

4.2.

describe the outcome of a famous musician’s involvement in the orchestra?

4.3.

give examples of mistakes that members of the orchestra frequently made?

4.4.

mention people’s reaction to the first performance of the orchestra?

4.5.

compare how things turn out in reality and fiction?

THE WORLD’S WORST ORCHESTRA?

A. When you gather a group of eager but untrained dreamers to play a football game

against professionals, or put on a spectacular concert to save the local animal shelter,

those amateurs heroically exceed the expectations of even the harshest critics. That,

at least, is how it goes in the movies. But in real life when you get a bunch of amateurs

together to perform a skilled task, such as playing an instrument, you usually end up with

something like the Portsmouth Sinfonia, an experimental orchestra from the 1970s, which

became famous for performing what could fairly be called terribly bad music.

B. The Portsmouth Sinfonia was the brainchild of Gavin Bryars, a lecturer at the Portsmouth

School of Art. In May 1970, he put on a three-day talent contest, including all sorts

of acts, from comedians to singers. Bryars named it Portsmouth Sinfonia. The

Portsmouth Sinfonia consisted of 13 members who were students with little musical

experience. Unsurprisingly they didn’t win the contest. Yet, encouraged by the audience’s

enthusiasm for their initial attempt, the Portsmouth Sinfonia continued to play, growing in

size over the following years.

C. Their policy was that anyone, of any skill level, could join. Professional musicians could

be selected for the Portsmouth Sinfonia only if they agreed to play an instrument that was

entirely new to them. It was imperative that all members attended the practice sessions.

Despite working hard, their very limited musical skills inevitably meant that the orchestra’s

performances lacked harmony, with plenty of off-notes and random blasts of noise.

The world-renowned composer Brian Eno, who joined the Sinfonia as a clarinet player

(he’d never played that particular instrument before), said that the members ranked “from

geniuses to the extremely incompetent”.

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D. The Portsmouth Sinfonia signed its first record deal in 1973, and soon their first album

was released. Ads declared the Portsmouth Sinfonia to be “indisputably, the worst

orchestra in the world”, and yet the album became a minor hit. It was produced by Brian

Eno himself, whose reputation boosted sales significantly. In 1974, the orchestra even

played to an audience of thousands at London’s Royal Albert Hall. This performance was

later released as a live album. The Portsmouth Sinfonia stopped playing six years later.

It’s rumoured that the members of the orchestra simply got too good at playing their

instruments.

Na podstawie: www.atlasobscura.com

PRZENIEŚ ROZWIĄZANIA NA KARTĘ ODPOWIEDZI!

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