Dave Runnion: >Me, I kind of like it when an audience claps between movements. Shows >they like what they're hearing. Many years ago, I attended a concert by the violinist Andre Gertler and his wife, the pianist Diane Andersen. They substituted a very unfamiliar work - I think it was by Lawes - and although we didn't applaud between movements, we weren't sure whether it had ended, so when it did end, nobody applauded. There was an awkward silence during which the audience felt uncertain and embarrassed, and by some form of telepathy decided that to start applauding late might suggest that we were not happy with the performance and were only applauding to be polite. Gertler looked bewildered and decided the best thing to do was to play the advertised Grieg sonata. This was given thunderous applause, which included an implied apology for our collective gaffe. Richard Pennycuick [log in to unmask]