[78-L] An Orchestra Rehearsal

[DAVID BURNHAM]

I just ran across a curious record called "An Orchestra Rehearsal" by Theodore Cella, performed by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston P.O.  I don't know if it's supposed to be funny or instructive.  It's hard to hear the conductor's comments because he isn't miked and the orchestra is very loud.  I don't know if the entire production was written by Cella or just the music they're rehearsing.  The only hint that it's supposed to be comical is that it sounds like the harpist breaks a string when he's asked to play a solo, (Theodore Cella is or was a harpist, I can't find any dates for him but there is a photograph of him on line playing the harp in the New York Phil. from 1938 so if he is still alive he must be at least 100 years old).  It's on both sides of a 10 inch 78 and the first half of the second side is just the sound of orchestra noodling, then they play the piece they had been rehearsing, (a very short piece, probably less than a minute long).

db