Vegetable Orchestra goes down a treat

Vegetable Orchestra goes down a treat
Mon 24 May, 2004 16:39

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - The sounds of 40 kilos of finely tuned cucumbers, leeks, potatoes, radishes, peppers, aubergines and marrows entertained a German audience at the weekend in a concert by the first Viennese Vegetable Orchestra.

The nine-piece orchestra play instruments constructed from vegetable material -- from a flute made out of a carrot, a saxophone carved out of a cucumber, a violin from leek and to a pumpkin converted into a double bass.

"I would never have thought that you could get sound out of a cucumber," a young woman told Reuters at the concert. Others commented on the sense of smell accompanying the listening experience.

The ensemble, three women and six men, said their instruments are freshly sliced and put together only an hour before each performance to enhance the sound. Size, texture and water content is vital to achieve the correct sound, they said.

"Cultivated vegetables work better together than bio vegetables," said Matthias Meinharter, who plays a leek violin.

The players must also work against the clock. To protect their instruments from drying out during the performance, the musicians placed damp cloths around the vegetables when they're not being used.

The performance ended with the instruments being turned into vegetable soup.