Audience Etiquette for an Enhanced Experience
With the 89th annual Bach Festival just around the corner, we thought it would be helpful to highlight ways members of the audience can show respect for the musicians and for their fellow patrons during performances. In this essay, Bach Festival Society trustee emerita Beppy Landrum Owen explains why patrons are asked to hold their applause between movements and other concert protocols.
We are all aware of society’s rapidly changing norms. My grandmother once posted on her kitchen wall a list of rules that seem antiquated today: hat off, elbows down, no singing at the table. Yet many of her rules still ensure lovely daily interactions: say please and thank you. Life is just a little bit better if we remember the extra acts of courtesy which enrich a moment.
Audiences who come to a classical music performance understand that there is a beauty to be found in life’s extras. No matter how busy our lives are, no matter how advanced our technology becomes, there is nothing quite like the experience of sitting and listening to the creation of music, in the moment, before our very eyes and ears and hearts and minds. Anything can happen, and what happens most often is a transportive experience that no recorded or digital medium can replicate.
The following offers a reminder of some traditional rules of etiquette that, like my grandmother’s kitchen list, are not entirely antiquated. One hopes they never will be. These rules have become tradition not because they constrain or signal in-group status, but because, when followed, they offer an enhanced experience for everyone who participates in a classical music performance—audience members and performers alike.
Applause. Knowing when to applaud and when to hold applause is confusing for new concertgoers. It is confusing even for many longtime concertgoers. The rules are these: hold your applause between movements, and then applaud as enthusiastically as you’d like at the end of a piece (unless the performance is a Passion, in which case, even at the end of the performance, you should stand and then exit in quiet solemnity). If you’re not sure how many movements there are in a piece, look at the program and count. If you’re still not sure, wait until you see the conductor turn around and face the audience to receive the applause.
The reasons for this tradition are several. First, the brief moments between movements allow the performers to adjust their music or their instruments or their person without breaking concentration. This allows them to remain in the “flow” of their performance. Second, the rich silence that settles down like a heavy blanket after the last notes of a movement creates one of the greatest joys of attending a live performance. The Bach Festival Society’s Artistic Director and Conductor John Sinclair likes to quote the adage that music is “sound and silence, organized in time.” Listen to the silence, feel its weight, and hear it as part of the performance itself. There are not many moments in our busy, hurried world when one can sit in a room with so many other people and experience collective wonder, even if for a fleeting moment. The quiet is special, and it should be treasured.
Phones. Turn them off and put them away. No exceptions. Please, please and thank you. These days, a few hours of unplugged time should be regarded as an extraordinary opportunity for a rich, contemplative experience. This opportunity should not be squandered, nor should it be destroyed for others. Many a concertgoer has thought that one might take “just a quick look,” or tap out “just a quick text or post,” without being noticed. Overlooked is the fact that the light of a phone can be seen, indeed, is seen as if under a spotlight, to great disturbance, by many others whom the phone-holder doesn’t consider: those in the rows behind, those in the balcony above, and sometimes even by the performers themselves. And the phone doesn’t become invisible if it is held in one’s lap. It’s particularly disruptive if one tries to tap out a text message during a performance; those sitting nearby, people who are already primed for close listening, can hear more than one might think. For the same reasons that one respects the magical quiet between movements, one should respect the magical experience that is the entire performance, for oneself as well as for everyone else. If having no connectivity for a few hours is truly a life-or-death matter (and really, when is it ever), consider rescheduling. Please.
Punctuality. Punctuality is one of the last great gestures of respect. A concertgoer should aim to be seated at least fifteen minutes before a performance. This allows ample time to settle in comfortably, to review the printed program, and to get into the mood of the coming performance. Ditto a return to one’s seat following intermission. The anticipation of a concert is part of the experience itself; enjoyment and relaxation should not be rushed. Also, punctuality signals to your fellow concertgoers and to the performers that you deeply respect what is about to happen. If you are running late, an usher may seat you between movements, but remember that you are denying others the pleasure of those lovely in-between silences. It’s far better to just arrive early.
Food, Beverages, Candy. Some venues offer sales of food and beverages to boost revenue for programs. While the economic realities of this are understandable, rules of etiquette should still apply. Food and beverages should be enjoyed outside the concert hall, before or after the performance, or during intermission. They should not be consumed during a performance, even if the venue doesn’t disallow it. Restraint in this aspect is another sign of respect for the dignity of the performance. It also avoids distractions that interrupt the attention of fellow concertgoers and performers alike. If you need to take a piece of candy to stifle a cough, be sure to open the wrapper as quietly as possible. Those around you will be grateful for your courtesy.
The experience of a classical music performance can be one of life’s great joys. With their music, performers give audiences a gift; audience members return that gift with their devoted attention and gestures of respect. Like my grandmother’s simple reminders to say please and thank you, traditional rules of concert etiquette will help to make what is already a special experience that much richer for everyone.
Beppy Landrum Owen is a trustee emerita of The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park and a Rollins College graduate (‘96). A former corporate attorney, Beppy has returned to Rollins and is working on a master's degree in liberal studies.