Friday, May 26, 2006

Invisible orchestras

Someone's come up with a theoretical basis for designing invisibility cloaks. While there might be some use for this in arranging a covert rendez-vous or slipping out of a restaurant in advance of the check, I can't imagine a better use of invisibility cloaks than in orchestration. Why? Nothing kills a surprising instrumental entrance better than having the surprising instrument visible in advance of the surprise. Imagine that an orchestra is on stage, playing an initial theme when suddenly, out of nothingness, a piano and a pianist appear to restate that theme. Or what to do about trombone sections or mighty choruses that are supposed to hang around until fourth movement finales? Cloak 'em. And opera singers with the right voices but the wrong bodies for their roles? Cloak 'em.

I just hope that someone is working on a cone of silence as well, for coughing audience members and horn players in fear of cracking their solos. Cloak 'em all.

No comments: