Concert
Etiquette
As
part of your study, some of you will be attending "Classical"
concerts—some of you, for the first time. Although you may be unfamiliar
with proper concert behavior, relax! For the most part, the practice of good
concert etiquette is nothing more than an exercise in common courtesy. In an
article entitled "Behavior Among Music Lovers," the well-known
syndicated columnist Miss Manners commented on inexcusable, voluntary actions
by some concert-goers, which can ruin other people's
enjoyment of the performance. These undesirable actions include:
1)
EATING
2)
WHISPERING or TALKING of any kind
3)
CONDUCTING IN ONES LAP
4)
NECKING
5)
TAPPING
6)
HUMMING/SINGING
7)
WEARING VIEW-OBSTRUCTING HATS
I
am adding one more: Turn off your electronics!!
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The following comments were emailed to Dr. Jacobson by a
community member after attending one of the recent
Wednesday night BPI concerts:
Hello. I
recently attend a concert and saw the Merling Trio
perform. I have seen them perform several times over the years and it is
always a delight. I must express my disappointment concerning the
audience in attendance, however. Over all the years I have been enjoying
classical music concerts at WMU and other venues in the Kalamazoo area, I have
never seen such a rude and disrespectful group of people ever. People
were arriving after the performance started (why didn't the ushers ask them to
wait to enter?), getting up and leaving, talking, rustling programs, and
despite the request to silence cell phones that was announced just before the
concert began, I heard a few beeping. I want to at least thank you for
explaining to the audience after the first piece finished about waiting to
applaud at the end of the piece as that did seem to
help. I can only guess that many in the room that night had never
attended a classical music concert before and so perhaps you might educate them
on the other aspects of proper behavior. If not, then perhaps you should
warn the public about this series of concerts so that they can stay away from
it. I am annoyed that I had to pay full price for a ticket and then
didn't feel free to simply walk out. I was looking forward to this night
and I left feeling very let down. Maybe you could fill me in on what was
going on that night as I am open to hearing another
side of the story. Thank you for your time.
* * * *
It
is too bad that a few forgetful (or unknowing) audience members insist on displaying
such unacceptable behavior. Traditionally, music appreciation students are
blamed for causing a large percentage of these disturbances. Although the
majority of appreciation students are exemplary listeners, over the years the
few ill-behaved ones have stereotyped this bad image for all music appreciation
students. They arrive late and leave early (some even so rude as to enter or
leave while the music is being played), hold lengthy conversations during the
concert, put their feet up on the seats in front of them, make excessive noise
while taking notes on the concert (such as ripping paper out of a note pad,
loud pencil scratching on the paper, etc.), eat hard candy (which requires the
very noisy removal of the outer wrapper), and generally ruin the concert for
those around them. You should recognize that most "classical"
concerts tend to be more serious in nature as compared to the atmosphere of
rock, jazz or "pop" concerts. This does not infer that
"classical" music is better—only that it has its own particular
style and purpose, and these must be anticipated and respected by you as a
listener. Whatever noise or commotion you make will be heard
louder by those around you than the music coming from the stage. While
attending a "classical" concert, please be considerate of those
trying to enjoy the music, even if you happen to find the music unpleasant for
some reason.
The
following list of suggestions will help you avoid embarrassment and derive
greater pleasure from the concert experience:
1. Arrive before the
posted concert time. This will give you time to locate a good seat and look
over the program in advance.
2. If for some reason you do
arrive late, please wait at the back of the hall until an appropriate break in
the musical program (the end of a movement or work). Do not disturb other
listeners by attempting to seat yourself while the music is being performed.
3. You
must shut off your phones, put them away, and do not bring computers into the
concert hall. This behavior is not allowed in public concerts and is
absolutely inexcusable. It is incredibly rude to the performers on the
stage, and to the other audience members around you.
Our class is about LIVE MUSIC listening, understanding and appreciation, so
the public concerts are the one place I will insist on your focus and
consideration of others. There will be harder things in life than not using
your cell phone for 90 minutes, so develop the self-restraint now that you will
need to face those greater obstacles. Thank you for carefully considering all
the ramifications of this for the potential success or failure for our class
and for these public concerts.
4. Hold your musical (and
non-musical) comments until the musicians have left the stage (which will
happen at breaks between sections of the program, intermission, or the end of
the concert). WHISPERING AND UNSOLICITED LAUGHTER truly disturb
those around you and can certainly be heard for several rows in a quiet hall.
5. We will not be doing any
writing of any kind, or any notetaking during
concerts.
6. Our in-class concerts last
60 minutes, followed by a writing assignment worth 50 points that requires you
to have seen the concert in order to complete the essay. Keep in mind that the
Dalton Recital Hall is neither a classroom or a nightclub, so leaving early is
not only rude but it is insulting to the performers who have worked for many
weeks/months to prepare this music. Put yourself in their position—How
would you like to have only part of a term paper read after putting so much
effort into it? Would you appreciate a professor only reading/grading the first
few sections of your final exam?
7. Know when and where to
applaud. Unless it is the final movement of a work, or the last song of a set,
you should be sure NOT to applaud—you want to show your appreciation
AFTER you have heard a complete work or section of the concert. You can tell
this by looking at the printed concert program. Multi-movement works are
indicated by several successive tempo indications underneath the title of a
work; titles of individual songs are put in quotation marks, and then put in
order of presentation:
PROGRAM
Symphony No.40 in G Minor,
K.550
W.A. Mozart
Molto allegro
Andante
Allegretto
Allegro assai
3 Songs
Franz
Schubert
"Erlkonig"
"Heidenroslein"
"Der Wanderer"
For example,
if you were present at the Mozart/Schubert concert shown above, you would
notice the audience applauding only at the conclusion of the four-movement
Mozart symphony (after the "Allegro assai" movement) and after the
last song of the Schubert set ("Der Wanderer"). This allows the
performer(s) to keep the interpretive focus of the music intact until the
entire work (or set of pieces) is completed.
If you are
unsure when to clap, it is best to wait for the applause to start before you
take part.
7. IF YOU
HAVE AN ALARM WATCH or a CELL PHONE—DEACTIVATE IT !
8. Do not bring recording
devices or cameras to the concert; they may be confiscated. (Be advised that
there are laws prohibiting the recording of many types of public concerts.)
9. For formal public concerts
such as the Wednesday night Dalton series, when possible DRESS NICELY. Make an
occasion of it.
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