Lindsey Orcutt wrote:

>I recall reading that the practice of clapping *only* at the end of
>all the movements is a 20th-century practice, not one composers hoped
>for.  (Oh, how I wish my memory were better sometimes!!) If I could recall
>where I read it, I'd direct you there, but I recall reading as well that
>audiences in earlier days (19th century?) not only clapped in between
>movements, but did so enthusiastically.

I don't know of any specific passages to cite for this point, either,
but I'm sure it has often been written about by music historians.  It is
certainly true that the practice of maintaining silence between movements
is relatively recent.  One need only recall the famous concert in which
Beethoven's Violin Concerto and (if I remember correctly) a couple of
symphonies were premiered, and the soloist entertained between movements
of the concerto by playing the violin upside down, etc.

No doubt there are many symphonies, concertos, and other multi-movement
works which would not be harmed at all by applause between movements,
but there are also many others for which this would be a very jarring
intrusion, and which the composers probably wrote with the assumption
that there would be no such intrusions.  The problem is that it is not
immediately clear, in a lot of cases, whether a particular work should
be treated one way or the other, and in any given audience there would
probably be no unanimity of opinion on this.  Therefore, it seems safer
to stick with the no-applause rule on the whole.  OTOH, the heavens are
not going to fall if some hands are smacked together on inappropriate
occasions, once in a while.  (It's certainly more tolerable than beepers
and cell phones!)

I suspect, BTW, that the practice of adhering movements together without
pause, pioneered by Beethoven, may have originated in the desire to
guarantee that the connection between movements would not be broken.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]