How to put a smile

Just one electronic letter from an unsatisfied visitor of Symphony Orchestra concert in which he complains on the sad faces of the musicians on the stage, and the rage comes down on that poor musicians …

When someone puts their internet address to the public, they should be ready to,as well as usual get and some unusual context letters. It includes a variety of inconveniences, and often insulting. Moreover, experiences with other people are – as they say – endless. Here are some examples: Not long ago, English cultural public lifted dust over the occasion of “events” in Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. This is the Symphony Orchestra of the same town in Dorset.

As almost all major cultural institutions have their Internet address, so does the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. There are addresses to which “visitors” can send an electronic message. After the concert, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra,which happens to be the best perfumer of so-called serious music,got the sharpest attack on on musicians from a visitor who said that in his opinion,performers looked miserable and despondently. In a word: depressed. Visitor of the concert believed that he threw his money because he was forced to watch the blue and lifeless faces. And did he write how they played? No! However, regardless of this fact that is missing in the letter, marketing director of the orchestra screamed at the musicians:
- What the devil is wrong with you? Smile from time to time! Look happy!

The consumer is always right…
Given that the Internet is a public service, news spread … Members of Symphony Orchestra Bournemouth were called the depressives! Even in the respected daily “Independent”!
Dissatisfaction with the musicians from the audience, expressed through letters which started to fill in the electronic “boxes”, started to spread. And Sir Simon Rethlou, one of the greatest conductors of today, resent that the music fans in Birmingham concert didn’t gave no smile. There is no such of a great musician of whom the audience is afraid and which will dictate how to behave. The audience seems to know that it is just enough that the “unsatisfied consumer” appears, and that the director of marketing gets upset. Because the consumer is always right!

There are no more lessons in the “Classic” how to behave at a concert like: “Don’t tap between attitudes, DO NOT cough after each composition” Statistics show that visitors simply rush to the concerts of the smiling musicians while avoiding the ones without the smile.

Anthony Brown, the man who headed marketing services from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, as well indignant with the depressed look of the musician, told to “The Independent”:
- Our long-term trouble is that the orchestra members are not satisfied with themselves. People notice it. Violinist and cellist, who are at the forefront, are looking despondently unbearable!
Master of Marketing failed to say whether the boys and girls from the last row – timpani, horns and others in the troupe – are in a better mood. (Of course they are, when it is not mentioned!), and forgot to mentioned whether on the program is Beethoven, Mahler, Debussy … or maybe something more cheerful!
After the concert some embittered lady wrote to the Orchestra a letter complaining to a particular musician. Seeing that the musician is in the bad mood, she managed for a moment to “catch his look” and, in order to encourage him, she raise a thumb up as he wants to say: “Go ahead!” But, he landed his head still clearly out of tune.

Music reflects the spirit of the people Sometimes musicians got ordered by princes, dukes, kings, or those who paid them, and today there are many payers. It is every visitor who buys a ticket for the concert.
This story about the fight against the sad faces on the concert brings completely different light on today’s understanding of music. How the world changed? What does music mean to people? What impulse brings? Does it mean something to anyone if the musician is playing well, if he is a virtuoso? And what if there is no appearance of models and brilliant smile – whether musicians should be reward with applause from the audience? Is it really all on sale?
Let’s hope not, and everyone still manages to uncover how music can be sublime, that, at least briefly, to predict the initial harmony – as Pythagoras claimed – once, in the dark universe created the world.
And we who live in these areas, it might be better to remember the words of the ancient Chinese thinker Confucius, who said that the music is clearly speaking about man’s spirit. To all of us is clear, regardless of age, which music is wining for many years. Therefore, if you think about what Confucius said, then we have serious cause for concern.