Glenn Donnellan is a violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra

In a recent blog, I offered for patrons to come say hi at the stage if they want, that I love to chat with them. After the concert on Thursday, October 8, as I was putting my violin in my car, a woman named Rachel approached me with a question, which turned into an interesting 20 minute conversation with her and her husband, Jason, about the concert and the NSO, neither of whom had read my blog offer!  I always want to know what brought a listener to a particular concert, and their story was a mix of serendipity and their passion for music.  Rachel often gets Jason NSO tickets for his birthday, and for this year's present picked that night's concert: Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, and Martinů's The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca.

Turns out she struck a chord with the program pick - Jason had heard the slow movement of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in the car on the radio a few weeks ago and loved it so much that he bought a recording right away.  So they were both really happy to catch this concert.  I asked what they thought of the Martinů, the more challenging listen on the program, and Jason said he liked it, notably that "it had some great chord changes that were beautifully fulfilling yet were injected with jabs of other harmonies" (he put it better).  That was amazing to hear from a non-musician, because I felt that really summed up one of the most interesting things in the Martinů menu.  Kind of like a drink of lemonade - refreshingly sweet and satisfying yet with a tartness to enliven it.  Then he said something really amazing.  He said the concert experience made him feel like his molecules got rearranged, realigned, as in a better way.  Wow.  Who could imagine such an impact on our audience?

So, what did Rachel ask me in the first place?  "Why don't people clap after the first movement anymore - whatever happened to that tradition?"  She was disappointed that after the huge and declamatory 1st movement of the Brahms, which is like a whole work unto itself, no one let loose with ovation during the pause before the slow movement.  We talked about that for a while and came up with some ideas, but I would love to hear what other people think about that.  Why not clap and cheer in between movements when it really grabbed you?  And what of that "tradition?"