Michael Cook
At 18:47 -0400 12/06/2003, David H. Bailey wrote:
When somebody got the foolish notion that the direction the violin is facing actually impacts the sound the audience hears.
In the opposites seating, the 2nd violins are facing the rear of the stage, so if you hold with the directional-sound bit, it would be counterproductive to seat them that way.
The cellos, of course, face front, so their sound is more directed at the audience, and the violas are at enough of a slant and their role is usually subservient enough in the score that having them angled as they are doesn't really diminish their sound.
Personally, I prefer the opposites seating -- it really makes contrapuntal passages come alive in my mind. Having 1sts and 2nds all next to each other simply muddies the sound, all those fiddles slightly out of phase with each other!
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