Applause

To Applaud or Not to Applaud… That is the question. The answer is: It depends.

Today it is customary to applaud only at the conclusion of complete works, NOT between the movements thereof. Some classical music buffs get very upset, not to say “bent out of shape,” when the latter occurs.

It was not always thus. In the 17th century, most works were fairly short and did not have several movements, so applause was acceptable after each one. As composers developed progressively longer pieces with inter-related parts throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, audiences at first continued to applaud after each movement, and had to be taught to wait until the end of the piece so as not to defeat the composer’s efforts to structure the work as an single unified whole.

However, if a particular performance of a movement is especially outstanding, it is still fine to recognize that with applause. The problem is that audiences then tend to feel they need to applaud after every succeeding movement, brilliantly played or not. Performers do their best to get the ‘No applause yet’ message across, with nods while preparing to go on, for example, but often to no avail. Singers who wish to group songs in a recital have the same problem magnified exponentially.

All of this applies to concert or recital hall settings. The world of the exuberant opera audience is totally different; there it always has been, and probably always will be, appropriate to applaud and shout “Bravo!” or “Brava!” after an aria.

Applauding is simply not a one-size-fits-all situation! It is best if the uninitiated follow the lead of the cognoscenti, not to be confused with the "stuffed shirts," instead of trying to be the first to burst forth.

Marvin J. Ward