Klarinet Archive - Posting 000119.txt from 2005/08

From: "Geoff & Sherryl-Lee Secomb" <gsecomb@-----.au>
Subj: Re: [kl] National Anthem and other things
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2005 19:49:59 -0400

Well spoken, Jacob.
Live performances should be exactly that - LIVE! - with all the consequent
possibilities which go with it.
Otherwise maybe we should all save our ticket money and spend it all on Hi
Fi systems and CD's and a great chair!
Goodonya mate!
Geoff.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jacob Boyle" <jacobjboyle@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 9:13 AM
Subject: [kl] National Anthem and other things

> The rationale I've heard regarding post-anthem
> applause is that it's "okay" if the applause is in
> recognition of the beginning of a sporting event,
> ceremony, or other occasion. I'm not sure if this
> "rule" was put in place after it was realized that
> people weren't aware of or capable of following the
> no-applause rule or not.
> This is somewhat in the same vein as the
> applause-between-movements debate. Has anyone ever
> actually been at a performance where the Anthem was
> sung/performed (does it still count if it's not sung?)
> and there followed DEAD silence? Wasn't it awkward?
> What happened next?
>
> Also...and I'll take full responsibility for opening
> up this can...what exactly is the purpose of public
> symphony concerts? Regarding the comment from Dan,
>
> <The romantic movement, which saw and sees the
> emotions of the
> music and its impact on the listener as the essence
> and purpose
> of a concert, stopped that practice cold. Applause
> within a
> composition was considered both interruptive of the
> emotions
> given to the audience by the music, and offensive.>
>
> I would venture to say that some feel that we enter
> the concert hall and sit in our partitioned seats,
> close ourselves off from the rest of the world at that
> time--all that exists is the music and ourselves. We
> absorb ourselves in the music and soak in the
> aesthetic responses elicited by the performance.
>
> However, some of the best experiences I have had
> performing and taking in a performance is when I look
> to my side and see my good friend has also been moved
> to tears by the New World largo, or that the principal
> bassoonist--also a dear comrade--is as emotionally
> (and physically!) exhausted after the never-ending
> Brahms' German Requiem fugue as I am.
>
> I guess my point is that if we wish to soak ourselves
> in the music and not be "offended" by other people,
> then sitting in the privacy of your own home in a nice
> comfy chair with a really great stereo system, a
> recording of a world-class orchestra under an immortal
> conductor (flawless, no doubt--those pesky human
> errors really ruin the mood too, no? ;-)) may be the
> solution.
>
> But as for myself, when I attend a normal
> subscription-season concert at the Minnesota Orchestra
> with my six-dollar student saver ticket, I expect to
> be involved in an experience with an auditorium full
> of other human beings who are there for hopefully
> similar reasons as I am. I approach any "whoopsies"
> with that mindset--that it is a live environment, it
> is the reality of the day, and realize that I do my
> part to not interrupt the enjoyment of others. I
> refuse to let my experience be "ruined" by these
> things. Who reading this can say they have never in
> their concert-going experience been a culprit of even
> a single muffled cough, program drop, sneeze,
> seat-squeak, etc...? My point is that some of these
> things are truly an accident and demonizing those who
> are at the time responsible is IMHO inappropriate.
> YES, those things which ARE under their complete
> control--electronic devices, etc.--should be taken
> care of beforehand. However...last night, saxophonist
> Eugene Rousseau (who is teaching a clinic at the camp
> I am working at) gave a recital and told an anecdote
> where he chastised his students before a performance
> to turn off their phones. Afterward he retrieved his
> phone from his pocket and lo and behold...he had not
> followed his own advice! We are all human.
>
> So when these other warm bodies are so affected by the
> performance that they wish to show their appreciation
> to the performers, and to each other that they are
> thankful for being there at that time to share in the
> moment with others, then I don't have a problem with
> it. Sure, I might not be as "riled up" after Barber's
> Adagio to stand up and throw out a "Bravo!" or two,
> but if other people are, then so be it. We all
> respond differently to music. And somehow, saying
> that people should or shouldn't react or behave in a
> certain way as a response to such a mysterious and
> unexplainable experience just isn't right to me.
>
> About to enter my fourth year as an undergrad I still
> have much to learn about music, and these are all
> simply my thoughts as I understand things right now,
> and welcome anyone else's input on all of this.
>
>
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
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