The symphony orchestra was performing Beethoven's Ninth. In the piece,
there's a long passage, about 20 minutes, during which the bass
violinists have nothing to do.
Rather than sit around that whole time looking stupid, some bassists
decided to sneak offstage and go to the tavern next door for a quick
one.
After slamming several beers in quick succession, one of them looked at
his watch and said, "Hey! We need to get back!"
"No need to panic," said a fellow bassist. "I thought we
might need some extra time, so I tied the last few pages of the
conductor's score together with string. It'll take him a few minutes to
get it untangled."
A few moments later they staggered back to the concert hall and took
their places in the orchestra. About this time, a member of the audience
noticed the conductor seemed a bit edgy and said as much to her
companion.
"Well, of course," said her companion. "Don't you
see?
It's the bottom of the Ninth, the score is tied,
and the bassists are loaded."