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An observation about "Modern" classical music.

As I sat in my car, waiting for my wife as usual, I listened to a local classical music station which happened to be playing some "modern" music. I don't like it, being an old fart who likes Mozart and his ilk. But, as I had nothing else to do, I tried to appreciate what I heard. No luck, but I did notice something I have experienced before but never thought about. At the end, there was a dead silence of 3 to 5 seconds before audience applause. This never happens with, for example, Mozart where the final notes never get a chance to decay before the applause and Bravos. Obviously (IMHO) the music was so hard to "follow" that the audience were not sure it was over until nothing happened for a while.

I know that some guys like this music, but haven't you noticed this dead time? How do you explain it?
eldartford
jsujo
348 posts
 
I had a hard time with modern classical, but without even trying, I started feeling the music of Bartok and company....

Its all due to familiarity and patience,,,you cant sit and try to get it...slowly, even heard as background music is more helpful...
aceto
273 posts
 
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pragmatist
336 posts
 
Another possibility is that the audience does not like it,but once several start to applaud,others do,to compliment the players.

I like 20th century harmony(Bartok,Stavinsky,Hindemith,etc) but atonality is beyond me. I'm a creature of tonic,dominant,tonic harmonic structures.
hodie
31 posts
 
Good one, Aceto.

I wonder, Eldartford, whether that was an appreciative silence, or a stunned, Is that it? silence. Isn't it funny that much music composed seventy, eighty ago is still called modern. I love the idea of an orchestral piece causing a riot among listeners in the hall. Now, there you have citizens who know what it's important to fight about. At about 4:23 I'd probably be laying about with my bumbershoot as well.
naunc
9 posts
 
I've noticed that audiences in different countries have different customs when it comes to applause. In some places it seems to be customary to allow a few seconds' respectful silence before beginning to applaud. I even remember one concert in Berlin where members of the audience who applauded prematurely were shamed into silence. And it wasn't that the rest of the audience didn't like the performance -- in fact, when the silence finally broke it was followed by a prolonged standing ovation.

It's possible that the difference you noticed has more to do with the habits of a particular audience than with their feelings about the music itself.

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