Good To Hear

(Note: This post has been updated (3) as of 3:56 PM Eastern on 24 Jan. See below.)

Alex Ross writes:

Sorry to keep harping on this theme [of championing less constrained audience behavior at classical music concerts], but I believe classical music will have a healthier future if performers and expert listeners relax a little and stop demanding icy silence during performances. Think about someone venturing to a concert for the first time. Would he or she want to come back after witnessing this kind of red-faced, bulging-vein, fussbudget behavior? I have officially become tiresome on this topic and will now retire from it.

And not a moment too soon, either, as I was just about to dash off some poison-pen jottings aimed at the let's-be-like-18th-and-19th-century-audiences-and-not-treat-classical-music-with-such-deference crowd. I'd remind those champions of such egregious prole behavior that we're a 21st-century audience, and know and understand hugely more about what we're listening to than did 18th- and 19th-century audiences, if for no reason other than that we've had a century or two more experience with the music they received so boisterously, crudely, and cavalierly.

Count me among the "shushers" — when I'm in a generous mood, that is. Trust me, you don't want to know what replaces that shushing when I'm not.

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Update (3:01 PM Eastern on 21 Jan): Alex Ross responds in an addendum to his above linked post, and responds by misquoting me from my above which gave him the opportunity to respond with a non sequitur, and a barb.

I wrote, in part: "...we're a 21st-century audience, and know and understand hugely more about what we're listening to than did 18th- and 19th-century audiences, if for no reason other than that we've had a century or two more experience with the music they received so boisterously, crudely, and cavalierly."

Alex takes only the first part of that partial sentence, and misquotes it by beginning it with a capital letter, and ending it with a period after "audiences" as if that were my complete sentence, and my total thought.

I decline to respond to Alex's non sequitur.

Update (6:18 PM Eastern on 21 Jan): Alex Ross responds further in a second addendum to his above linked post in which addendum he apologizes for misquoting me and misunderstanding what I wrote. He also asks me two questions:

Now I ask ACD this. In the 18th and 19th centuries, we had 1) boisterous, crude, cavalier audiences; 2) a cavalcade of masterpieces. In the early 21st century, we have: 1) polite, restrained, undemonstrative audiences; 2) by AC Douglas' own account, an almost total lack of masterpieces. Are these things unrelated? If audiences were to show more emotion, more involvement, might composers respond with more powerful, moving music?

My answers to Alex's questions are: Yes, I think those things are unrelated, and, No, I don't think greater permitted freedom of response on the part of classical music audiences will affect the sort of music classical music composers write — except maybe tend to cheapen it.

Update (3:56 PM Eastern on 24 Jan): More on the subject of audience etiquette at the classical music concert.