Cabaré Brutal | P’almas – Concert Etiquett

Cabaré Brutal _ P`almas – Concert Etiquett

É essa a ‘observação’ aberta que se propõe: como relacionamos o ‘artista objecto’ com o ‘sujeito criativo’ na contemporaneidade; do pensar conceptual ao sentir processual, como acontece essa transposição da ideia à linguagem própria da obra ou da acção, e se ela exprime na integridade o ser sujeito, ou se é apenas e só mero reflexo objectual.

Right in the middle of the First Allegro came a Passage that I knew would please, and the entire audience was sent into raptures—there was a big applaudißement;—and as I knew, when I wrote the passage, what good effect it would make, I brought it once more at the end of the movement—and they went again, Da capo. The Andante was well received as well, but the final Allegro pleased especially—because I had heard that here the final Allegros begin like first Allegros, namely with all instruments playing and mostly unisono; therefore, I began the movement with just 2 violins playing softly for 8 bars—then suddenly comes a forte—but the audience had, because of the quiet beginning, shushed each other, as I expected they would, and then came the forte—well, hearing it and clapping was one and the same. I was so delighted, I went right after the Sinfonie to the Palais Royal—bought myself an ice cream, prayed a rosary as I had pledged—and went home.

Alex Ross, author of The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, he gives readers an excerpt of a letter from Mozart to his father in the year 1778.  It expresses the happiness and joy Mozart received from applause during one of his pieces.

THE HISTORY OF APPLAUSE

Some have said that clapping is like high-fiving yourself in a positive response to something that someone else has done. Clapping is the most common sound that we, as humans, use without our voice chords. We do it as a social gesture to show approval and admiration in groups, crowds, or by ourselves, and more so in the setting of being presented with something like a show or performance. But what is the reason behind why we clap? Did you know that the average speed of our claps ranges from 2.5-5 claps per second? The meaning of clapping is recognized through every culture in the world, and is one of the most universal means of communication. Let’s take a look at the history of applause.

The action of clapping is actually a quite primitive one, initially being used in response to being aroused. In Western etiquette, a study has shown that the clap of an individual actually has very little to do with that individual’s personal opinion of the quality of the performance. It has more to do with the feeling of belonging in the group that someone has just experienced something with. Haven’t you ever heard someone say that they’re “just clapping to be polite”? Or when you applaud because everyone else is clapping, even if you’re not really sure what’s going on yourself? Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone!

In comparison to vocalizing approval through speech, clapping is easier, louder, and more anonymous especially in crowds. You can’t tell much about a person through their clap, like whether they’re male or female, or where they’re from. Clapping is even considered more democratic, since stomping your feet can be too disruptive, and not everyone can snap their fingers. Taking it way back to 6th century BC, lawmaker Kleisthénes of Athens made it so that audiences would have to clap in approval of their leader, since there were too many people to meet individually. Through this came the “applause”, the unified voices of all these people in the form of clapping together in admiration. A few hundred years later, in the 4th century BC came the claquer. A claquer was a person who was hired by theaters and shows to clap, cry, or laugh at the right moments in order to influence the audience’s reactions. In the 4th century Athens, competition was fierce between comedians, and claquers became a common way to sway the decision of the judges and be awarded best performance. In the Roman Empire, the practice of using applause to influence was applied to politics, and claquers were found in both courts of law and private art demonstrations. Roman emperor Nero even established a school of applause with a claque of thousands of knights and soldiers following his concert tours!

Concert Etiquette

Back in January, something disastrous happened at the New York Philharmonic. During a performance of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, at one of the most silent parts in the piece, a cell phone began to ring.  The owner did not even realize it was his phone until Conductor Alan Gilbert stopped the performance. He dropped his hands to his side and waited for the concertgoer to stop the noise.  After the noise stopped, Gilbert addressed the audience and said, “Ordinarily, in disturbances like these, it’s better not to stop, since stopping is worse than the disturbance.  But this was so egregious.”  So, this raises the question – how are you supposed to act during a classical music performance?  There are certain codes and rules one must abide by for Western Classical music, and disregarding them is deemed to be disrespectful and just plain rude.

Originally, concerts and live performances were just an excuse for social interactions.  The audience rarely paid attention to the performers and spoke to each other all throughout the concert.  In the late 1800’s, Wagner was the one who truly took a stand against disturbances from the audience during performances by reforming the way the opera house should be constructed.  After Wagner revolutionized the opera house, it helped give proper recognition and focus to the artists and performers on stage, but some composers believed that applauding and whistling during the performance was a good thing.

In an online essay written by Alex Ross, author of The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, he gives readers an excerpt of a letter from Mozart to his father in the year 1778.  It expresses the happiness and joy Mozart received from applause during one of his pieces.