Music to my ears

In the interest of raising a cultured Renaissance man, I took Mark to the symphony this weekend.

Now, before you groan and ask how could I, let me say he wanted to go. (Which is more than I could say for my friends, all of whom declined the invitation.)

After all, he plays the cello, and he loves music. I thought it was a no-brainer.

As he dressed up for our big night out, I explained the rules to him. They were the same as for the movies: no talking, no squirming, no whining and no ruining the experience for other patrons. I emphasized that the last rule was punishable by death.

We arrived early, but I waited until just before the symphony started to find our seats (I didn't want to confine Mark any longer than I had to). Mark eagerly pointed out all the different musicians.

"Look at all the cellos!" he said. He was amazed at how many violinists there were (I counted about 35).

The fidgeting began as soon as the program did. Silently, I handed over a pair of binoculars, which bought me a good 20 minutes. Mark trained them on the different musicians, even exclaiming, "Hey, I think that's my music teacher!" He pointed her out among the violinists.

He was pretty good. I shushed him a few times, and he fidgeted all over the place, even moving down two seats, but that's my own fault. I'd bribed him beforehand, giving him half a Rice Krispie treat in exchange for a promise to behave. Perhaps a sugary snack wasn't the best choice, as he squirmed uncontrollably.

We sat through the first piece and were most impressed by the percussionists. One percussionist in particular, who brought out a giant wooden clapper. At certain points, he opened it up, then smacked it shut with a loud clap. At other times, he hit the cymbal delicately. There was another percussionist who stood in front of a huge bass drum, and over the course of the 18 minute piece, he hit it four times. A third percussionist played a small metal triangle.

Mark and I decided we could play in the symphony. He'd probably get hired before me because he can actually read music, but hey, if someone wrote "CLAP" every once in a while on the music sheets, I could figure it out. (They could probably put pictures of the cymbals, drums and triangle in there too, and I'd figure it out!)

We stayed for the first two pieces, which were about 30 minutes long, then left at intermission. Mark wanted to stay till the end, but I thought it only fair to let the people behind us enjoy the second half without distraction. When Mark protested, I told him, "You've done a great job tonight -- don't you want to leave on a high note?" He agreed that was probably best.

And so we left. Overall, he really enjoyed it, though I'd say his highlights were probably the Rice Krispie treat, waving the binoculars around, and staying up late more than the music itself. But whatever -- I'm just glad he didn't hate it, and that he'd go back again if given the chance.

But if we do go again, I'll make sure I bring bribe money for snacks. And he'll get his bribe snack AFTER the show next time!