One of the pleasures of attending the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Happy Hour concert a few weeks back was hearing spontaneous applause whenever a soloist played a particularly engaging piece.
I'm sure, though, that there were hardcore classical fans in the crowd who felt that such eruptions disturbed the musical moment as badly as would a cell phone going off.
Now, the ISO's Happy Hour concerts are designed as casual affairs (At the same performance, someone even whistled at the conductor before he even raised his baton), so the mid-piece clapping should not have been surprising. But there's debate among music lovers about whether the whole idea of applause restraint is a custom best abandoned. Music writer Alex Ross chimes in on it here, noting that the Commander in Chief even joked about needing guidance. "Fortunately," Pres. Obama said, "I have Michelle to tell me when to applaud."
Is that how it should be? Would more people be comfortable with symphonic concerts if clapping wasn't met with cold glances from other patrons?
Or is part of the magic of a symphony concert lost when the applause isn't saved for the end?
Your thoughts?
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I also think it's a matter of audience education. People who have never been to a classical performance use the rules of etiquette they learned from other places, like jazz clubs and rock concerts, where immediate appreciation is given to solos.
I have three pet peeves with applause. The first grates on me when I'm watching a musical performance and the audience applauds when they recognize the song being played, especially when it's the group's big hit. The second really annoys me when I'm watching a movie and people clap at the end. I was prompted once to say loudly, "You know they can't hear you, right?" The third has begun fairly recently: When people begin applauding loudly when someone begins singing the last line of the National Anthem. It's disrespectful.
There, now I sound like an old man. Damn.
Yes, if you clap during the music you may actually miss an important or surprising musical event in the next few moments, but I'd rather you stay connected to what's going on, share your joy, and let me know we're doing a good job!
Ignore the chap sitting next to you when you're on the edge of your seat, or crying profoundly, and he shuffles & grunts to show his displeasure at your behavior. It simply demonstrates he probably isn't connecting to the music/performance at all, and is certainly not engaging in the experience in the same way you are.
And yes, it's disrespectful to clap during the national anthem, but doesn't that suggest either: people are fed up with it and want to get on with the event, it's a bad uninspiring performance of it, or folk are no longer connecting with what the anthem is trying to convey - it's become rote and meaningless.
Personally, I have no problem when people clap between movements. This tells me that there are patrons in the hall who are new to this experience and are enjoying what theyâ??re hearing. In fact, Iâ??ve enjoyed some pretty amazing soloists performing with the ISO and have fought hard not to applaud after an incredibly moving 1st movement for fear of those shame-on-you glancesâ?¦ Perhaps we need to stand up and say, no more. I will not be ashamed of showing appreciation. Viva la clapping!
"applause - hand clapping as a demonstration of approval, appreciation, acclamation, or the like."
What musician playing on stage wouldn't appreciate a sign of "approval, appreciation or acclamation" during ANY point in the concert?
For an entertaining and enligthening read on the history of the applause/no applause convention, check out Alex Ross' blog The Rest is Noise.
Musicians: it's OK to SMILE and feel appreciated when the audience gives you some love!
IN A PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (music, dance, art, drama)...
1. Never enter a classical concert or traditional theatre during a performance. Always wait until the end of a sketch or a classical movement.
2. Do not talk during a performance.
3. Applause upon completion of "complete" performance...and not until the silence is heard!
4. Act as if a private recording session is taking place.
5. Never applause if the 4th movement of the Howard Hanson Theme is played (Interlochen Tribute)!
That's all I have to say about that.
And I'm one of those dorks that has been known to clap after a great movie fully knowing the actors and director can not hear me. Thank you for the laugh Hugh!
If an orchestra is playing a multi-movement symphonic work, then I do not think it is proper to change the mood and flow of the piece by applauding between movements. (I tell my students, if you aren't sure when to clap, wait until someone else does first.) While I agree with Paulâ??s comments about the performers connecting with the audience, I think that intense quiet between movements is something that everyone in the hall feels and IS an important part of the experience of that particular piece. If I play a solo in the 2nd movement that the audience liked, I know the conductor will likely give me a solo bow at the end of the symphony, and if people liked it they will have a chance to clap then.
However, if it an orchestra playing a pop/jazz piece, and you liked the solo, applaud away!
Applauding during the National Anthem â?? donâ??t get me started. I can barely contain myself seeing the awful behaviors during the playing/singing of the SSB at public events.
On a related topic - my pet peeve is playing in an orchestra, when we are playing something fun and lively (i.e. Shostakovich â??Festive Overtureâ?? or â??In the Moodâ??), and I look around at my fellow musicians, and some of their faces give the impression they are going through an invasive medical procedure â?? lighten up and have fun! (yes string players, Iâ??m talkinâ?? to YOU!). And when we just finished a great performance of Beethoven #7, SMILE when we take a bow and the audience is giving us a standing O! I have often had audience members in the lobby after a performance tell me they enjoy watching me during the concert because they can tell Iâ??m having fun.
And yes, I sometimes clap at the end of a great movie, just as I sometimes yell at the tv while watching a game ;-)
It's up to the conductor/ leader of the ensemble when clapping is appropriate. An effective [competent] conductor will very clearly 'carry' the audience with him/her between movements of a large work: command silence when it's appropriate, permit in-seat leg-stretching & shuffling when it's appropriate, and also inspire between-movement applause when it's appropriate. Using their 'presence' and a suitable means of silent communication (not Over-The-Top, either... just watch 'the greats'), conductors should be influencing & bringing together listeners as much as performers. If they're not, 1. they ain't doing their job, and 2. they open the performance up to a ton of abuse, including coughing, talking and people walking in & out!
As for 'traditional' rules. Well, I am very fond of tradition. Justified tradition, that is. What's been thrown in our faces above is scarily ludicrous and wrong - it hasn't always been that way. Indeed, only recently (in the late 20thC) was alcohol prohibited from many auditoriums... let alone the wandering around, cheering, chatting, laughing, etc. that many of our great composers enjoyed [or, in many opinions, endured] for hundreds of years! Yes, it can be distracting and I'm glad audiences generally don't treat the auditorium like a train station anymore, but when protocol interrupts people's enjoyable participation... that's bad.
Again, a good conductor will affect and encourage musicians to smile - as they often should - especially when acknowledging the audience's appreciative applause. Sometimes, though, the music just hits too deeply and it's hard.
I truly hope this debate stays alive...
But please â?? if you need to cough, plant your mouth into your bicep and let it rip. Itâ??s easy, nearly silent, and no one will mind if you then applaud mid-movement.
I'm sorry about not smiling more. The audience deserves a pleasant face. I will definitely try harder!! I am so grateful for the attendance and the applause!!
I wish the ISO musicians could be in the audience for a Happy Hour concert. I've had the pleasure of attending two performances and the excitement, enhanced perhaps by a little gin, is...dare I say...intoxicating.
However, in some situations with various conductors it is awkward when it happens. The conductors and the audiences aren't really prepared how to handle it. I think it's something every conductor should prepare for in advance, so that when it does happen, they know exactly how they want to handle it. Occasionally when they don't acknowledge the applause it can be perceived as aloof by the audience.
I also agree with Roger that it's context that's important. In opera, it is common for the opera to pause while the audience applauds an aria or ensemble.
Sometimes, even though I'm a Christian, it is difficult to perform with church groups. Everything is all about giving God the glory. Yet, I've been trained musically that everything should be given up for the sake of the music.
So, when I go to a live performance, it is distracting for me to hear applause before a final note has finished. I'm trained to be intense with my listening until everything has resolved completely. I just have to remind myself that some things (like gratitude from an audience) are more important than a slight distraction from my being in the zone. It's sometimes hard. But it's only hard when I forget that the music is not being performed only for me (when I'm in the trombone section or in the audience).
--Lou Harry
Arts & Entertainment Editor
IBJ
I think the very specific question of "Should you clap whenever you feel moved to show your appreciation at a live performance?" is related to the larger question of how to be a person.
I mean, you want to be fully present and honest or at least authentic in every moment of your life, right? But you also want to do your tiny but essential part to build community and help heal the world.
Sometimes this means taking a risk and expressing, but other times this means taking a risk and holding back. There is no one-size-fits-all rule.
So...I don't think there can be a hard-and-fast rule about when to clap and when to sit on your hands. Not really.
But that said, I think the question of whether or not to clap is also related to the question of whether or not some spaces are sacred (in the largest sense of the word, not the merely religous) and if so, what is right behavior while in them? Yes, you're there to draw water from the sacred well or whatever, but you're also there to help keep the well going. It's not all about you, even if you paid money or time or something to be there.
So...I do believe in believe in following conventions of "sacred space" courtesy when I can. I turn off my cell phone at the theatre, for example. I use my "indoor voice" at the public library. I don't touch the wrestling ring at a sumo match. I might clap in church or even shout "Amen!" but I might not, depending on the church.
So...if someone tells me there are right and wrong times to clap at symphony concerts, I'll do my best to follow those conventions, out of respect and out of a desire to have the concerts continue.
Speaking of continuity, though, I loved the final paragraph in the article you linked us to, Lou. Alex Ross wrote:
"People often ask whether classical music has become too serious. I sometimes wonder whether it is serious enough. Certainly, it has acquired a veneer of solemnity, but too often that veneer is a cover for business as usual. I dream of the concert hall becoming a more vital, unpredictable environment, in thrall to the wildly diverse personalities of composers and performers alike. The great paradox of modern musical life, whether in the classical or pop arena, is that we both worship our idols and, in a way, straitjacket them. We consign them to cruelly specific roles: a certain rock band is expected to loosen us up, a certain composer is expected to ennoble us. Ah, Mozart; yeah, rock and roll. But what if a rock band wants to make us think and a composer wants to make us dance? Music should be a place where our expectations are shattered."
Paving over the sacred well is not the same as preserving it.
Hope Baugh
Indy Theatre Habit
PS - I don't think I have expressed myself here very well, but if I don't leave for the theatre RIGHT NOW, I will be late. And that is definitely not okay! (hah)