tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post1774752435417389347..comments2023-11-03T09:05:31.265-04:00Comments on Soho the Dog: EnsembloniousMatthewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10936327293692397100noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-75911021531504844822007-12-20T14:42:00.000-05:002007-12-20T14:42:00.000-05:00As a member of the orchestra in question (even I c...As a member of the orchestra in question (even I can't bring myself to say the name), I would just like to say that I understand the dilemma the orchestra committee was trying to solve. Here in the Tidewater Virginia area, there were two orchestras within twenty miles of each other whose names sounded a lot like "Virginia Symphony Orchestra". One of them is the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (used to be the Norfolk Symphony), and they're pros -- they are not going to change their name to make the people who run the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra, an amateur group, happy. <BR/><BR/>You'd be amazed at the turnout we have for concerts, I think, given our limitations. We want an even bigger audience because we now have a bigger concert hall to fill, thanks to the Virginia Beach taxpayers. I don't know if changing the name to Symphonicity helps ticket sales, but at least no one will confuse us anymore with the guys at the other end of I-264.<BR/><BR/>The orchestra exists because middle-aged wannabes like myself think playing pieces such as Harold in Italy and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony is too important to be left to the professionals -- and conductor Dave Kunkel is willing to organized it all. As Shostakovich once said, "Amateurs would make the best musicians, if only they could play."<BR/><BR/>Bottom line, what's in a name? I don't care if they call it Uncle Kunkel's Kapellmeisters, as long as I get to play Khachaturians' Second Symphony.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-22526854170598485882007-04-07T10:06:00.000-04:002007-04-07T10:06:00.000-04:00I should be clear in my levity: had "Symphonicity"...I should be clear in my levity: had "Symphonicity" been a new advertising slogan, or a new tag line, or somehow a season theme, I would have no problem with it. (As derivative as it is, it beats anything the BSO has come up with lately.) As the new <I>name</I>, however, I just see nothing but trouble. It's going to be a fair outlay on marketing, brand-building, etc., just to get the name registered in people's consciousness, and then the ensemble is stuck with it—and I have a feeling they may regret that six or seven seasons down the line. It just seems analogous to a cute, punning tattoo that you get in a moment of drunken revelry, and then realize in the bleary light of morning that it's not so easy to erase.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10936327293692397100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-25095064368384511122007-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:002007-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:00Oh, dear, well, your comment could certainly expla...Oh, dear, well, your comment could certainly explain a few things. Do you mean "the group formally known as the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra" or "the group FORMERLY known as..."?Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-32996941835661588872007-04-06T10:03:00.000-04:002007-04-06T10:03:00.000-04:00Alex's point about Adorno might just make this who...Alex's point about Adorno might just make this whole thing worthwhile for me. (It also seems to be a somewhat obscure theological term, for what that's worth—maybe their target audience is the Pope.)<BR/><BR/>Hey, I thought up another one: The Amsterdam "Concerto-go-round"!Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10936327293692397100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-2696153354129235062007-04-06T08:13:00.000-04:002007-04-06T08:13:00.000-04:00I don't think I could spell that...ever.I don't think I could spell that...ever.Lizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09313893978952879524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-90247863983208522672007-04-05T21:17:00.000-04:002007-04-05T21:17:00.000-04:00Hell, it's the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra. ...Hell, it's the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra. This is like the Atlantic City Philharmonia calling itself "The Philharmonotones" or something.<BR/><BR/>I think that the Nieuw Ensemble should be renamed "NIEUW!".CKHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07184649084949322088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-87620226425283549392007-04-05T19:23:00.000-04:002007-04-05T19:23:00.000-04:00An inside source says that Symphonicleness was thr...An inside source says that Symphonicleness was thrown out, and that a nearby synonym was chosen.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11367901003659994894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-88746775378141783432007-04-05T19:10:00.000-04:002007-04-05T19:10:00.000-04:00It appears from Google that the word "symphonicity...It appears from Google that the word "symphonicity" appeared in an article by Theodor W. Adorno, at least as rendered by one translator. So the name becomes a negative dialectical critique of the falsity of the whole. A surprising move from the ordinarily conservative symphony orchestra establishment!Alex Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08023216757229249122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-86857267139235050982007-04-05T19:04:00.000-04:002007-04-05T19:04:00.000-04:00In other news, the New York Philharmonic is renami...In other news, the New York Philharmonic is renaming itself Philharmongous, and the Cleveland Orchestra will become Orchestrazzmatazz.Alex Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08023216757229249122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-63574150834730195982007-04-05T17:54:00.000-04:002007-04-05T17:54:00.000-04:00This just has to be a joke. I mean, has to be.This just has to be a joke. I mean, <I>has to be</I>.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10936327293692397100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354680.post-14670301468652618652007-04-05T17:42:00.000-04:002007-04-05T17:42:00.000-04:00I wonder what Scrantonicity, the Police tribute ba...I wonder what Scrantonicity, the Police tribute band on "The Office" will have to say about this.Joycehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11813310164859004993noreply@blogger.com