A consultant was given a ticket for a performance of
Schubert's "Unfinished
>Symphony." After attending the concert, the consultant sent the following
>memorandum to the conductor suggesting a number of improvements..
>
>MEMORANDUM
>
>1. For a considerable period, the oboe players had nothing to do.
Their
>number should be reduced, and their work spread over the whole orchestra,
>thus avoiding peaks of inactivity.
>2. All twelve violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary
>duplication, and the staff in this section should be drastically cut.
If a
>large volume of sound is required, this could be obtained through
use of an
>amplifier.
>3. Much effort was involved in playing the 16th notes. This seems
an
>excessive refinement, and it is recommended that all notes should
be
>rounded up to the nearest 8th note. If this were done, it would be
possible
>to use paraprofessionals instead of experienced musicians.
>4. No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage
that has
>already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages
were
>eliminated, the concert could be reduced from two hours to twenty
minutes.
>5. This symphony has two movements. If Schubert did not achieve his
musical
>goals by the end of the first movement, then he should have stopped
there.
>The second movement is unnecessary and should be cut.
>
>In light of the above, one can only conclude that had Schubert given
>attention to these matters, his symphony would probably have been
finished
>by now.
>
>
