But as our audience came to be filled more with strangers and less with our parents and roommates (huzzah!), the spontaneous clapping stopped. I miss it.
I googled "classical clapping" and found this guide to concert etiquette, which frankly makes me (and my colleagues) cringe:
When you read your program, you will probably notice between two and five major compositions of music, with several movements listed as subcategories of each. It is best not to clap between movements of a larger composition. Certainly, though, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between movements and keep track of where the performers are in the course of the program, particularly if you are unfamiliar with classical music. Therefore, if you are unsure of whether or not clapping is appropriate, follow the lead of the experienced audience members around you.
...
Although you don’t need to dress as if you were attending a state dinner at the White House or a royal wedding, you will probably feel more comfortable at a classical concert if you dress in a respectful manner. Different audience members will interpret this in different ways, but you should generally avoid clothing with holes, rips, or tears; very casual shorts, skirts, or jeans; and very casual t-shirts or tank tops.
A safe outfit for a female would be a nice dress or suit, and for a male, nice pants and a jacket and tie. Less formal dress may be acceptable, as may more formal dress, but a good rule of thumb might be to dress as if you were going to attend your church, synagogue, or other house of worship, visit the bank for a loan, or make an appearance to defend yourself in court.
Emphasis mine. :)
But I also found this, more encouraging article:
While the attitude toward clapping often appears to novice concert-goers as a secret code developed in ancient times, there's actually no historical precedent for it.
...
There is ample historic proof of the expectation of applause. Mozart famously wrote to his family with pride in 1778 when one of his pieces was so well-received it needed to be encored. "At the premiere of Beethoven's Seventh, they applauded so vociferously they had to repeat it, right then," says [Leonard] Slatkin.
...
"All of us love applause ... it means that the listener LIKES us!" writes [Emmanuel] Ax. "I really hope we can go back to the feeling that applause should be an emotional response to the music rather than a regulated social duty."
So, what do you think?
4 comments:
Jen, there's been an interesting (and sorta parallel) discussion going on ArtsJournal re: formal attire: http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2008/09/while_i_was_away_i.html
Based on how Radius dresses, I have a feeling that I know where you'd come down on that one, but I think some of the good points people raise in support of formal dress could also be said of applause conventions.
Thanks for the link, Charlotte!
As for attire, I agree with the commenter who wrote: "Maybe not formal dress, but "symphony" implies togetherness, unity of purpose, harmony. I'd like the dress to match the intent. I don't want to see everyone in their own version of casual Friday. It's a show. You need costumes. Being from SoCal, I wouldn't mind seeing my local symphonies in, say, sharp white pants and Hawaiian shirts, but everyone ought to be on the same page."
Well ... it was drummed into me early on that a "sophisticated" classical audience does not clap between movements. The implication was that you look like an uneducated bumpkin if you clap between movements.
More recently, the conductor of our orchestra has actually spoken to our audience to encourage clapping whenever they see fit as a sponatneous expression of pleasure. He discussed this in a historical context indicating that in the past major works may have been performed discontinuously (is that a word?) through a concert so clapping after a movement was a natural outcome. He indicated that the restrictions on clapping only came about in the 1800s (I don't know how true that is).
When you like it, let 'em know!
This is cool!
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