The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 1 plus 4 plus 4 letter word TOOK A BACK SEAT
T
O
O
K
A
B
A
C
K
S
E
A
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Went to rear of orchestra pit/played second fiddle?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case went to rear of orchestra pit/played second fiddle? = took a back seat.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.