Since classical music is dramatic, great concerts are great theater. So theater rules apply. Everyone focuses quietly, a) not to distract anyone, and b) so we might internalize every sound and their subtle, relative implications in immediate hindsight. Following the melody and its rise and falls in a series of increasing waves that climax each minute or so requires concentration. Listening itself, the capacity to focus and catch patterns, colors and themes over longer periods, are some of many blessings of classical music. We build a sense for what is going to happen, and are either rewarded or pleasantly surprised. So repeated listening is rewarded threefold because the best of it never loses its potency. In a series of waves, the composer and musicians set up a very long build up to a smashing climax near the end of each work. Inevitability is balanced with surprises when it’s done to the max.
Taking the church metaphor a bit further, sedate musicians in long black tails might resemble priests in robes, performing sacred gospels, written by long-dead saints, conducted under the authority of an accented bishop, likely from Europe, to serve a congregation of true believers seeking absolution.
Silence then is a powerful sacrifice to the sonic experience, lending utter contrast to sound. We shut up so the blessings can emerge and so we may potentially receive them fully. To focus in the present moment is a secular form of meditation: letting go of our instincts to react physically (publicly), but completely internally, becomes another great gift. To internalize musical feeling, including dance, is the power to imagine. The easiest way to start is to close your eyes for music, and see and remember what comes up for us. A quartet or an orchestra looks pretty much the same, no matter what they are playing. Try to take it all in the ears, like the blind. Follow the melody as it rises and falls. Accept the flow of emotions and thoughts without judgement. Don’t flinch, shudder, or grunt. Breathe slowly and deeply.
Church services and concerts are inherently if subtly dramatic… perhaps like any Red Hot Chili Peppers show. Role-playing, melodrama, plots twists, and coincidences are necessary for a clever and satisfying journey and ending. Here, an audience will choose to suspend its disbelief, to force satisfaction and search for deeper meanings. There are no wrong answers; only incomplete ones. As audience we bring to classical concerts the same proactive sleuthing and imagination we use going to an art movie, new restaurant, or art gallery. We feel grateful to be there, prepared to be amazed, and look for patterns.