I believe it was common practice way back when for orchestras to play standing up, but is it feasible for an orchestra, say if they were doing a short recording session in a studio (and fogettign for a moment their union membership), to play a piece standing up? Okay for cellists, for example?
The Australian Chamber Orchestra (who are bloody fantastic, by the way) always play standing up. But the cellists sit down. I don’t think it’s really possible for them to play otherwise.
As their website says:
As an ACO subscriber I can only say I don’t understand why all orchestras don’t play standing up. As Prin says, the sense of energy and excitement this lends to their performances is electrifying.
Well, that and the fact they play very interesting stuff, very well. 
Two practical reasons:
-
Short players will have their view of the conductor, and of principals in the string sections, obscured. (Less of an issue with a chamber orchestra, which I guess is how the Aussies get away with it)
-
It’s bloody tiring! All-day rehearsals, plus evening concerts, are tiring enough as it is. While it may be possible in the schedules of some orchestras, particularly a close-knit group such as the ACO, a more typical symphony orchestra just would not be able to do it.
But if your average musician would cut back on the boozing and smoking, and lose a bit of his/her militant tendency…
Not to mention that if they were all standing, they’d be a mad rush for the local soon as the conductor had made them take their final bow, and there could be some nasty injuries!
As someone who occasionally plays standing up – and even on the hoof, I’ve done a ton of marching gigs/parades in my time – when you’re toting an instrument that weighs on average between 25-35 pounds, any help you can get is, well, helpful.
Okay, violinists and violists are not so encumbered, but it’s hard work to do anything standing up for a long time, try it yourself and see. Try, oh, standing up and just reading a book for an hour or two and see if that doesn’t give you some insight. Don’t slouch!
And yes, it does add to the intensity and excitement when you stand up – which is why in jazz bands you often see musicians standing up for their solos.
TubaDiva
I think that if an orchestra stands up, then it would be considered a band. Bands play standing up.
Was it in Take The Money And Run that Woody Allen plays a cellist in a marching band? He runs, puts the chair down, plays a few notes, picks it all up, and runs ahead a few feet and does the same. Hysterical.
Yes, and that’s the first thing that came to mind when I read the OP. 