A coastal town commissioned composer（作曲家）/kəm'pəʊzə/ Ivo Bell to create a centenary pageant（盛会）/'pædʒ(ə)nt/. The outdoor gala（祝贺）/'gɑːlə; 'geɪlə/ would combine a carnival（狂欢节）/'kɑːnɪv(ə)l/ procession, local stories, and a choral（合唱的）/'kɔːr(ə)l/ concert. Its success would depend on（取决于）/dɪˈpend ɒn/ volunteers rather than（而不是）/ˈrɑːðə ðæn/ hired stars. Ivo received an idyllic（牧歌的）/ɪ'dɪlɪk/ farm scene, a workers’ lament（挽歌）/lə'ment/, and an inspiring（鼓舞人心的）/ɪn'spaɪərɪŋ/ harbour finale（结局）/fɪ'nɑːlɪ; -leɪ/, but no single performance plan. Working on behalf of（代表）/ɒn bɪˈhɑːf əv/ council organisers, he formed a mixed troupe（剧团）/truːp/ and promised a playable score.
Ivo began to orchestrate（把…编成管弦乐曲）/'ɔːkɪstreɪt/ the music around available players. A pianist（钢琴家）/'pɪənɪst/ and drummer（鼓手）/'drʌmə/ supplied a rhythmic（[生物] 有节奏的（等于rhythmical））/'riðmik, 'riθ-/ foundation; a fiddle（小提琴）/'fɪd(ə)l/, viola（中提琴）/vaɪ'əʊlə/, and cello（大提琴）/'tʃeləʊ/ carried the main line. Flute（长笛）/fluːt/ and oboe（双簧管）/'əʊbəʊ/ handled quiet exchanges, while trombone（长号）/trɒm'bəʊn/, tuba（大号）/'tjuːbə/, and saxophone（萨克斯管）/'sæksəfəʊn/ entered only at large transitions. Harp（弹奏竖琴）/hɑːp/ and accordion（可折叠的）/ə'kɔːdɪən/ coloured the historical scenes. Ivo used his baton（指挥棒）/bə'tɑ:n/ to mark entrances, yet each player retained one short passage in which to improvise（即兴创作）/'ɪmprəvaɪz/.
The score gave every section a distinct form. An overture（前奏曲）/'əʊvətj(ʊ)ə/ introduced the town, and a brief prelude（前奏）/'preljuːd/ led into the narration. A young duo（二重奏）/'djuːəʊ/ performed a duet（二重奏）/djuː'et/ adapted from a sonata（奏鸣曲）/sə'nɑːtə/; four older players formed a quartet（四重奏）/kwɔː'tet/. The harbour movement resembled a concerto（协奏曲）/kən'tʃɜːtəʊ; -'tʃeətəʊ/ without making one soloist dominant. Midway through（在……进行到一半时）/ˌmɪdˈweɪ θruː/ rehearsal, unwanted dissonance（不一致）/'dɪs(ə)nəns/ revealed that two copied parts were a tone apart. Correcting them restored a rhythmical（有节奏的）/'rɪðmɪkəl/ pulse without erasing contrast.
Stage planning had to remain equally precise. The choreography（编舞）/,kɒrɪ'ɒgrəfɪ/ guided the procession around a painted backdrop（背景）/'bækdrɒp/, and a pantomime（哑剧）/'pæntəmaɪm/ showed an early market without spoken dialogue. Acting（代理的）/'æktɪŋ/ volunteers learned where to stand, how to adjust posture（姿势）/'pɒstʃə/, and when to gesticulate（用姿势示意）/dʒe'stɪkjʊleɪt/ toward projected dates. An usher（引座员）/'ʌʃə/ kept the audience path clear. At this stage（现阶段）/æt ðɪs steɪdʒ/, movement served the music instead of（而不是）/ɪnˈsted əv/ competing with it.
Vocal rehearsal exposed the main safety problem. The farm script asked one singer（歌手）/'sɪŋə(r)/ to bleat（咩咩叫）/bliːt/ and another vocalist（歌手）/'vəʊk(ə)lɪst/ to croak（呱呱地叫）/krəʊk/; crowd notes told others to bawl（大叫）/bɔːl/, shriek（尖叫）/ʃriːk/, and whoop（大叫）/wuːp/. A comic line invited a cackle（饶舌）/'kæk(ə)l/, while later cues demanded a growl（咆哮着说）/graʊl/, mumble（含糊地说）/'mʌmb(ə)l/, and snarl（咆哮）/snɑːl/. Amplification made these effects strident（刺耳的）/'straɪd(ə)nt/. One performer reported earache（耳朵痛）/'ɪəreɪk/. The sound adviser warned that repeated peaks could injure an eardrum（鼓膜）/'ɪədrʌm/. Rehearsal records supplied no basis for（没有……的依据）/nəʊ ˈbeɪsɪs fɔː/ equating pain with dramatic commitment. Ivo told the cast, 男“We can suggest a noisy crowd without asking anyone to become the noise.”
In light of（鉴于）/ɪn laɪt əv/ that warning, Ivo replaced sustained shouting with short recorded textures and lowered the speakers in accordance with（按照）/ɪn əˈkɔːdəns wɪð/ the safety plan. Live voices returned to melody, and the drummer reduced the loudest transition. Encouragement（鼓励）/ɪn'kʌrɪdʒm(ə)nt/ from the choir helped nervous performers, while the revised ending seemed to invigorate（鼓舞）/ɪn'vɪgəreɪt/ the entire group. The jubilant（欢呼的）/'dʒuːbɪl(ə)nt/ audience offered a single hurrah（欢呼声）/hʊ'rɑː/ after the finale. The team finished ahead of schedule（提前完成进度）/əˈhed əv ˈʃedjuːl/, proving that spectacle did not require uncontrolled volume.