Free

'Is this the Prelude? It doesn't sound like William Byrd?  If not, then what are they playing? Is it this on the program, Heralding? Now I'm all confused. What about the Prelude? It's right here in the program.' 

So you, sitting next to me, chuntered on through the performance. The 'musical intermission' must have been a typo, except there was a piece for trombone quartet up in the the balcony while the house-lights were up. That must be this in the program, but it lists four sections; why did I only hear three?  

'They always do such a good job here, I wonder why the program's screwed up tonight. And I think they've spelled the name of the soloist wrong, a 'v' instead of an 's', or else I don't know what's going on. 

'What, the Prelude was twenty minutes before the concert? I got here ten minutes before. Well, why didn't they put it on the website so I could have been here early?

Meanwhile serried trumpets, trombone choirs, teams of horns, a herd of tubas flow on the stage to make modern mass brass music. Young people with good training and good lungs made the hall ring. And all for free.

'Wait, this doesn't sound like Hansel and Gretel. What's going on? This is impossible to follow. Okay, it's really the fourth section of the trombone quartet. Well, I don't know why they have to arrange it this way. It's really hard to follow. 

'You know, there are so many free concerts in this area that I hardly know which ones to pick.'