"If there were no rules about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always"
About this Quote
Applause is supposed to be the audience's one job, yet Emanuel Ax treats it like a small social minefield. His line lands because it flips the usual story: the problem is not that listeners are clueless, but that they are trained into second-guessing their own ears. In a concert hall, people often clap when they think theyre allowed to, not when they feel moved. That little hesitation - the glance sideways to see if the veterans are clapping - is the sound of etiquette overpowering instinct.
Ax is pointing at a peculiarly classical anxiety: the fear of being the person who breaks the spell by applauding between movements, or who proves they don't know the code. The subtext is generous and quietly rebellious. He is defending the audience against the idea that musical understanding requires insider knowledge, and he's defending the music against the notion that it needs silence-policing to be taken seriously.
The quote also works as a critique of gatekeeping that masquerades as refinement. "Rules about when to applaud" arent just manners; theyre markers of belonging. Ax suggests that most people actually do have "the right response" - they can tell when something feels complete, cathartic, surprising. What derails them is the performance of correctness. In that sense, he's arguing for a concert culture that trusts pleasure and attention over protocol, and that treats applause not as noise at the wrong time but as evidence that the music connected.
Ax is pointing at a peculiarly classical anxiety: the fear of being the person who breaks the spell by applauding between movements, or who proves they don't know the code. The subtext is generous and quietly rebellious. He is defending the audience against the idea that musical understanding requires insider knowledge, and he's defending the music against the notion that it needs silence-policing to be taken seriously.
The quote also works as a critique of gatekeeping that masquerades as refinement. "Rules about when to applaud" arent just manners; theyre markers of belonging. Ax suggests that most people actually do have "the right response" - they can tell when something feels complete, cathartic, surprising. What derails them is the performance of correctness. In that sense, he's arguing for a concert culture that trusts pleasure and attention over protocol, and that treats applause not as noise at the wrong time but as evidence that the music connected.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|
More Quotes by Emanuel
Add to List
