Second Violin Section Petitions for Recognition as 'Emotionally Essential'

The Westfield Philharmonic's second violin section has submitted a formal petition to the orchestra's board requesting official recognition as 'emotionally essential to the orchestral experience,' following decades of what section leader Margaret Harmony describes as 'systematic underappreciation.' The petition, signed by all 14 members of the second violin section, argues that the group provides 'the harmonic foundation upon which the first violins construct their melodic vanity projects' and that without the second violins, 'the orchestra would be a collection of soloists and some brass.' 'We play the inner voices,' Harmony said. 'We play the parts that nobody hums but everybody feels. When the audience weeps during the Tchaikovsky, they think they're weeping because of the first violins. They are weeping because of us. We provide the emotional infrastructure.' The petition requests three specific accommodations: programme credit in a font size equal to the first violins, a dedicated bow at the end of concerts (currently the second violins stand simultaneously with the violas, which Harmony describes as 'insulting'), and the removal of the word 'second' from their title. 'We propose Principal Harmonic Violins,' Harmony said. 'Or Interior Violins. Anything that doesn't begin with a number that implies we are subordinate. We are not subordinate. We are complementary. There is a difference.' Concertmaster Viola Pitch, who leads the first violin section, described the petition as 'touching, and also a bit much.' She has offered to include a programme note acknowledging the second violins' contribution. The second violins have rejected this, describing it as 'a footnote, which is exactly the problem.' Maestro Fortissimo has scheduled a mediation session. Both sections have agreed to attend, though the second violins have requested that they enter the room first, 'for once.'