Please, hold your applause.

[AB68]

A couple of weeks ago I attended a concert in Chicago. Emmanuel Ax/Haitink/CSO were playing the Brahms second Piano Concerto. The audience were ecstatic, and started to applaud before the last note was played by the orchestra.
This is something I have never experienced before. I live in Hamburg, Germany, and go to concerts almost every week. I have been to countless concerts all over Europe, and a few times to the U.S, but as I said, have never experienced this phenomenon anywhere else.
Is this a common occurence in the U.S?

[Heather Harrison]

Unfortunately, it does seem to be common; I have encountered it at many concerts.  In general, concert etiquette is somewhat lacking here.

Heather

[Renfield]

I'd think it's more "uncommon in Germany", than it is "common in the U.S." Perhaps this regards the formality in the manner of the audience's approach to the music?

(I am not implying that U.S. audiences are uncultured: I am implying they might approach the music a bit differently than, say, the central European audience - or the British audience, for that matter!)

[hornteacher]

How long before the last note are we talking about?  Seconds?  A minute?  During the second movement?

[AB68]

How long before the last note are we talking about?  Seconds?  A minute?  During the second movement?

Just a few seconds, but enough to drown down the last notes so you couldn't hear them.

[Solitary Wanderer]

Yeah, annoying when audiences do that 

I like the final notes to resonant around the hall in 'silence'...then clap like mad

[hornteacher]

Just a few seconds, but enough to drown down the last notes so you couldn't hear them.

Hmm, that does seem a bit much.  The ones I've been to usually the clapping starts right after the last note speaks but before the echo dies away.

[Que]

Hmm, that does seem a bit much.  The ones I've been to usually the clapping starts right after the last note speaks but before the echo dies away.

That's a great pity - the last note has to be allowed to die away for a proper ending.
In my experience with Dutch audiences, the quieter the music ends, the longer the pause before the clapping. And rightly so.

BTW the audience should take its que from the conductor: as long has he keeps his last position - NO clapping!

Q

[c#minor]

I think we should keep shaking hands. I really think you can get a feel for a person on how they shake your hand. I can typically see if someone is confident, over-confident, timid, and so on. Yes, it does have "germ issues" but nothing a quick wash of the hands can't get rid of.

[jochanaan]

I think we should keep shaking hands. I really think you can get a feel for a person on how they shake your hand. I can typically see if someone is confident, over-confident, timid, and so on. Yes, it does have "germ issues" but nothing a quick wash of the hands can't get rid of.

II Corinthians 13:12

On the Celibidache Bruckner recordings with the Munich Philharmonic, the pause before the applause is nearly half a minute long--but all the more enthusiastic when it comes.  You get the sense that the audience had been in a Zen-like trance.

[Kullervo]

I think we should keep shaking hands. I really think you can get a feel for a person on how they shake your hand. I can typically see if someone is confident, over-confident, timid, and so on. Yes, it does have "germ issues" but nothing a quick wash of the hands can't get rid of.

I'm not afraid of catching diseases from peoples' hands, it's the obligation I object to. Once someone holds out their hand, you can't rightly say, "Oh, no thanks." You are required to shake the hand that is offered you — or cut them to the quick with your rudeness!

[c#minor]

Ahhhhh i see. Yes, i guess i could agree with you. I have had a situation where an acquaintance spotted me from a distance. He did not know that i had spotted him first with his hand scratching in the lower regions of his body, inside the pants. When he approached he put his hand out for a shake, so i put my hands over my mouth and let out a loud, long cough. I then told him, "No, i don't want to get you sick."

And on the same note it is an obligatory display of politeness.

[EmpNapoleon]

Once someone holds out their hand, you can't rightly say, "Oh, no thanks."

That would be funny.  I'm going to start doing that.

Great story c minor.

When my former priest held out his hand, I had to kiss it in respect.  There's nobody else that I know who demands that type of respect.  Perhaps if there were more of a rank in our society, poeple would be greeted differently.  Handshakes for the common man, bows for the great.