Did they turn the lights out on Beethoven during Earth Hour?

It was Earth Hour last night at 8:30 pm, and we happened to have tickets to an evening of Beethoven with Andreas Delf conducting. The feature of the evening was to be Eroica (The Heroic), the Third Symphony. We wondered as we sat down whether the lights would be turned off and the symphony would play in the dark from 8:30 til 9:30 … most of the time that pianist John O’Connor would be performing a piano concerto. Fortunately, they left the lights on, and we could see the full expressions on Delf’s and O’Connor’s faces.

During the intermission, we spoke to a friend, Norman Foster, who plays clarinet in the symphony. He always steps outside and mingles with the crowd during the intermission. I told Norman that we were wondering (not seriously, but wondering nevertheless) whether they would tip their hats to Earth Hour.

“Curious you should ask,” Norman said. “Yesterday, we finished rehearsal 10 minutes early and were waiting for the chairman of the orchestra society to come in to address us. Since we had 10 minutes to spare, Delf introduced us to a little game.”

“I don’t care how well you remember it,” Delf said (I’m paraphrasing, but this is essentially what Norman related), “But I want you all to do your best to remember your parts of Brahms Flirst Symphony. ” With that, he gave a downbeat, and the orchestra struck up some Brahms. They remembered it remarkably well, proving that yes, indeed, they could probably have played a Beethoven sympony in the dark.

Glad they didn’t try, because it was a delight to watch. Delf was deft, so to speak. He alternately quited and called for crescendos from various parts of the orchestra, emphasizing the theme and variations that are so prominent in Eroica.

The result was nearly an hour of rapt attention from a packed house, followed by four very boisterous standing ovations. Delf was so busy acknowledging the orchestra that he didn’t even notice that someone was standing behind waiting to bestow a flower lei around his neck.

What does all this have to do with coaching? Quite a bit. As a client, you have to start from where you are, and do the best you can with your current resources. It’s like playing Brahms without a score, and without rehearsal. You remember what you can, and follow along when you can’t remember. You are going in the right direction, and soon, your approximations will lead to practiced gains in your life. Instead of Brahms, you could be striving to lose weight, to exercise more, to meditate so that you aren’t so stressed out … whatever the goal, you are unique, and with your coach, you can invent the score as you go along.

In the end, you won’t end up performing in the dark, and if nobody else notices, at least you will be able to give yourself a standing ovation. Congratulations on the responding to the downbeat (in an upbeat manner, of course.)