You are on the Desktop website, Click here to go back to our mobile website
ARTICLE
The encore. To some music fans, it’s the sign of an incredible performance; a way for the audience to show appreciation to an artist by demanding they return to the stage and play more. To others, it’s simply a stale rock and roll cliche, by which self-aggrandising musicians foist their music on a captive crowd.
At least Jay-Z had the decency to ask the audience in his 2003 track ‘Encore’, rapping “Can I get an encore? Do you want more?” But for many audience members in 2023, the answer is simply “no, you can’t” or “no, we don’t”.
One of my first memories of a live performer eschewing the en¬core was the folk singer Laura Marling, who quipped, “If you want an encore, then this next song is my last. If you don’t, then you’ve got two more songs.” In fairness to Marling, the crowd at a folk gig isn’t exactly pumped up and begging for more – not like they might be for an act like Jay-Z – so you can’t blame her for avoiding the embarrassment of forcing it.
On the other hand, there are many situations when we’re standing in the crowd and the encore feels completely warranted; the natural thing to do given the atmosphere. We’ve all been there, clapping and cheering, waiting for the artist to return to the stage, hoping they’ll play that rare B-side or the big hit that we’ve been waiting for all night.
It’s exhilarating, and we get caught up in the theatricality of it. Even when the act knows they’re getting an encore, and we know the act knows they’re getting one. We can’t help ourselves but join the rest of the audience chanting, “One more song, one more song!”
But have you ever stopped to think about when and where the encore as we know it originated? The history buffs amongst you may know that the concept goes back hundreds of years, if not longer. And to understand its meaning back then, you have to consider the word itself. ‘Encore’ is a French word that derives from a Latin phrase meaning ‘to this hour’, but it was actually the Italian corruption of the word – ‘ancora’, meaning ‘again’ – which was used by British people in the 18th century to demand repeat performances of their favourite pieces at the Italian Opera in London.
From there, the fate of the encore was largely down to the changing whims of concert hall etiquette. Many venues enforced strict bans, with the aim of preventing an encore of a particular piece or movement from derailing the rest of the performance.
When Mozart premiered his 'Marriage of Figaro' in 1786, the length of each performance was doubled due to the encores – and it was situations like this that began to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the performers, who often weren’t being paid for the extra time.
In the early 1920s, the renowned Italian conductor Toscanini banned encores at his venue due to the disruption they caused. Although, out of everybody, Toscanini had a pretty good reason: 30 years earlier he'd been challenged to a duel because he refused to allow an encore. Talk about things escalating quickly…
You do have to empathise with the audiences back then too. These days, if we want to hear music we simply open up Spotify and we can play a song on repeat as many times as we like. At a gig, we can film a performance with our smartphone and play it back to infinity, if we wish. But back then, a live concert would often be the only way to experience music, and demanding an encore was the only way to experience that music for a second time.
Whilst encores may have been taboo in the classical music world for what seems like forever, they’ve remained the accepted norm in...
To read the full article, you’ll need to have a physical copy of the magazine which you can sign up for here for 6 issues delivered to your door from just £16!
https://store.promobile.online/products/pro-mobile-magazine-6-issue-1-year-subscription
You’ll also get full interactive access to this and the last year of magazines via the Pro Mobile Magazine App which is available from both the Apple App Store and Android PlayStore
At least Jay-Z had the decency to ask the audience in his 2003 track ‘Encore’, rapping “Can I get an encore? Do you want more?” But for many audience members in 2023, the answer is simply “no, you can’t” or “no, we don’t”.
One of my first memories of a live performer eschewing the en¬core was the folk singer Laura Marling, who quipped, “If you want an encore, then this next song is my last. If you don’t, then you’ve got two more songs.” In fairness to Marling, the crowd at a folk gig isn’t exactly pumped up and begging for more – not like they might be for an act like Jay-Z – so you can’t blame her for avoiding the embarrassment of forcing it.
On the other hand, there are many situations when we’re standing in the crowd and the encore feels completely warranted; the natural thing to do given the atmosphere. We’ve all been there, clapping and cheering, waiting for the artist to return to the stage, hoping they’ll play that rare B-side or the big hit that we’ve been waiting for all night.
It’s exhilarating, and we get caught up in the theatricality of it. Even when the act knows they’re getting an encore, and we know the act knows they’re getting one. We can’t help ourselves but join the rest of the audience chanting, “One more song, one more song!”
But have you ever stopped to think about when and where the encore as we know it originated? The history buffs amongst you may know that the concept goes back hundreds of years, if not longer. And to understand its meaning back then, you have to consider the word itself. ‘Encore’ is a French word that derives from a Latin phrase meaning ‘to this hour’, but it was actually the Italian corruption of the word – ‘ancora’, meaning ‘again’ – which was used by British people in the 18th century to demand repeat performances of their favourite pieces at the Italian Opera in London.
From there, the fate of the encore was largely down to the changing whims of concert hall etiquette. Many venues enforced strict bans, with the aim of preventing an encore of a particular piece or movement from derailing the rest of the performance.
When Mozart premiered his 'Marriage of Figaro' in 1786, the length of each performance was doubled due to the encores – and it was situations like this that began to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the performers, who often weren’t being paid for the extra time.
In the early 1920s, the renowned Italian conductor Toscanini banned encores at his venue due to the disruption they caused. Although, out of everybody, Toscanini had a pretty good reason: 30 years earlier he'd been challenged to a duel because he refused to allow an encore. Talk about things escalating quickly…
You do have to empathise with the audiences back then too. These days, if we want to hear music we simply open up Spotify and we can play a song on repeat as many times as we like. At a gig, we can film a performance with our smartphone and play it back to infinity, if we wish. But back then, a live concert would often be the only way to experience music, and demanding an encore was the only way to experience that music for a second time.
Whilst encores may have been taboo in the classical music world for what seems like forever, they’ve remained the accepted norm in...
To read the full article, you’ll need to have a physical copy of the magazine which you can sign up for here for 6 issues delivered to your door from just £16!
https://store.promobile.online/products/pro-mobile-magazine-6-issue-1-year-subscription
You’ll also get full interactive access to this and the last year of magazines via the Pro Mobile Magazine App which is available from both the Apple App Store and Android PlayStore
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 122, Pages 54-56.
