Why can bands play for hours often utilizing different instruments without ever looking at sheet music, but orchestra musicians always read from sheet music?

Question

I saw a clip where a pianist was playing and someone was turning her pages for her, but they fumbled and dropped the sheet music. The pianist kept on playing, but it got me wondering why have the sheet music if she knows the song anyway. Do they really need it? Why can’t they just learn the songs like all bands do?

In: 5311

Answer 1

Soloists (like that pianist you’ve mentioned) often do not use sheet music, even in a contemporary classic setting. A solo performer has a lot of freedom to interpret the music, whereas the ten first violins and ten second violins in a typical orchestra need to keep in tight sync with each other. Bands are often in a similar situation as soloists, where they have a lot of freedom to interpret or improvise and don’t need to stay in lock-step with anybody else in the ensemble. Moreover, a symphony orchestra will typically have a handful of rehearsals for a given piece, where the conductor will give instructions about things like tempo and dynamics that need to be noted down. The piece will be performed once or twice, and the orchestra will move on to other music. A band might play the same set list at dozens of shows over weeks and weeks, or they might be the kind of band that plays ‘standards’ that are re-used for years and years. It’s just a different kind of music playing