# Do you like encores?



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Having returned to concert-going in the past 18 months, I realize how good it is to hear a good encore. It's a bit like a bonus track on a CD.

*What are your thoughts on encores? Love them? Loathe them? Don't care? What have been some of the memorable encores you've encountered live, on disc or perhaps in radio broadcasts of concerts?*

Some of the encores I remember from recent concerts are:

1. Pianist Dejan Lazic, after playing the Beethoven 4th concerto, launched into some Chopin (he announced it).

2. Pianist Jacky Wong, after playing the Beethoven Emperor concerto, played something that sounded to me to be Rachmaninov. Anyway, it was good to see the contrast between this piece and the Beethoven.

3. After playing Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" symphony, the Sydney Youth Orchestra under Brian Buggy played the suite from John Williams' Indiana Jones - this was a long encore, at least 10 minutes in duration.

4. After playing Shostakovich's 10th symphony, the Australian Youth Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder played a string orchestra arrangement of "Danny Boy." It brought a tear to my friend's eye next to me, this was one of his father's favourite pieces, and it had been played at his funeral (his father had Irish heritage).

& this, from a review of Yehudi Menuhin's autobiography "Unfinished Journey" (published 1977 - the review also comes from that year, details below).



> Yehudi has not always pleased his audiences or the administrators...In 1957 he gave a series of concerts with the New York Philharmonic under the guest conductor Fernando Previtali...He received such a warm ovation on the first night after playing the Bloch Concerto that he was given permission by the conductor for an encore and played a short piece, of unaccompanied Bach, which was also well received...He learnt backstage that his encore had desecrated a New York Philharmonic tradition that ruled out encores as mere self-indulgence by soloists who played to the gallery while the members of the orchestra sat idle and the concert ran into overtime...Next day the newspapers pointed out the enormity of Menuhin's faux pas and the Herald-Tribune carried the headline: "Menuhin Fiddles While Orchestra Board Burns."


From a review of Yehudi Menuhin's "Unfinished Journey" by Allen Glover, Sun-Herald (Sydney), 10/07/1977.


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

Yes, I like encores, especially at either piano or vocal recitals, mainly because with some artists, you really never know what they're going to 'spring' on you. 

I remember one piano recital I attened, where the pianist devoted the second half of the recital to Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"--a blazing, colorful performance (the first half was pretty standard repertoire stuff and not really exceptionally well played). It was pretty clear that he was saving himself up for the Mussorgsky, and after five call-backs and a standing ovation (this was a San Francisco audience, and they are NOT generous with standing ovations!), he sat down for his encore and literally blew the audience away with Liapunov's "Lezghinka." Now how he could conjure up all that techical brilliance after something as exhausting as "Pictures" was beyond me, but it made for a VERY memorable recital. I could almost forget the rather stodgy, unimaginative Chopin that took up the first half. 

Tom


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I've had some nice encore experiences as well.

First one that I can remember is hearing Pinchas Zukerman playing the Bruch G minor concerto in Cincinnati (Paavo Jarvi conducting). He got this standing ovation and walked onto the stage several times for bows, eventually bringing his violin onstage, to which the audience went berserk... only to find that he was to play the little Brahms "lullaby" melody and tell a little joke, and then leave. The audience loved it, and so did I. It was so appropriate somehow.

Then, about a year ago, I went to Danville Kentucky to see Maazel conducting the New York Philharmonic. First half wasn't any good (nearly fell asleep during Schumann's second symphony), but then there was a monumental performance of "Pictures at an Exhibition" (what a surprise) which bowled me over. Then, after a few times coming back to the stage, Maazel picked up the baton again and led the NYPO through a Brahms Hungarian Dance and that typical "youth-orchestra" Farandole whose composer I've forgotten, and after the last encore he turned around, put his hands up and waved a small good-bye, and walked off the stage--with the whole orchestra following him.

You might think these examples seem just plain rude, but they were both hilarious, and the whole audience (myself included) loved them. Encores are just so much fun.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Oregon Symphony tries (usually successfully) to draw crowds by bringing in big stars and having them play flashy crowd-pleasers. Several years ago, Van Cliburn came to play Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto. And while it's enjoyable to get to see a very good musician playing very well, it didn't bowl me over simply because I'm not that into Tchaikovsky. But then for an encore he played the second movement of Beethoven's _Appassionata_, which was beautiful. I've since become quite familiar with that sonata--I've worked on the second movement myself, though I certainly can't play it as it deserves to be played--but at the time, I had never heard it before. And the encore was what I took away from that concert, far more than the concerto on the program. It's nice when a wonderful encore, however brief, makes up for a programmed work you do not love.

More recently, the OSO brought in Joshua Bell to play (of course) the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. I was unable to enjoy it because I have never heard more coughing during a concert in my life and spent the entire concerto repressing the urge to brutalize my neighbors. For his encore, he played Vieuxtemps' _Souvenir d'Amerique_, a series of "_variations burlesques_" on Yankee Doodle, which was quite funny.





(Music starts at 1:36 after Joshua Bell talks for a while and somebody translates it into Portuguese. Yankee Doodle starts at 2:30--second phrase first.)


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Encores are exciting, unpredictable and a pleasant way to conclude the concert; a mutual sign of appreciation between performers and audiences.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Encores are exciting, unpredictable and a pleasant way to conclude the concert; a mutual sign of appreciation between performers and audiences.


I agree wholeheartedly.

And speaking of encore experiences, this autumn, I attended a recital with the baritone Ronan Collett at the Louvre in Paris. After a beautifully sung recital, he came out and sang Voyage a Paris by Poulenc. A wonderful end to a wonderful concert.
Another is from this summer when I played in a youth orchestra, and we played in a church off the coast of Helgeland. Among other things, we were playing a suite from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky and we finished the concert by playing the waltz from Swan Lake. I don't think I've ever felt so good after a concert, and the audience seemed to like it quite a bit too.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I like the absolute majority in the poll there


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I don't like encores when performers have Bartók's sonata as main program and they repeat last movemenent as encore  

But I had couple of nice encores. Once upon a time very good German orchestra and pianist performed in my city Beethoven 4th PC and after that solist played some Mozart's Fantasy as encore and it was good to hear it. 

So it all depends. What encore? After what works? By who? Do I feel like going to restroom just after the concert is finished?


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

I once had a small piano duet by Arensky, but have never been able to identify it!


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

An example of encores being especially important is the New Year's Day Concert in Vienna. There's an hour of music planned for the program, but the ending _has_ to have these 2 encores, maybe 3: The Blue Danube Waltz, and Radetsky March.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I had to vote 'no'.

While an encore can be a nice gesture from a touring orchestra to its hosts and new audience, there are many pieces where there simply SHOULDN'T be an encore. For example how can one justify an encore after a harrowing ending to a piece such as Mahler 9 or 10, Bruckner 9 or Vaughan Williams 6? An encore just makes a mockery of the profundity of the music and the emotional mood it sets.

At the other extreme supreme masterpieces that end with a bang of the highest order (eg Mozart's _Jupiter_ Symphony, Strauss's _Ein Heldenleben_ or Beethoven's 7th) would be diminished by an encore of lesser quality. Encores have become far too commonplace and should be reserved for truly exceptional circumstances.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Delicious Manager said:


> I had to vote 'no'.
> 
> While an encore can be a nice gesture from a touring orchestra to its hosts and new audience, there are many pieces where there simply SHOULDN'T be an encore. For example how can one justify an encore after a harrowing ending to a piece such as Mahler 9 or 10, Bruckner 9 or Vaughan Williams 6? An encore just makes a mockery of the profundity of the music and the emotional mood it sets.
> 
> At the other extreme supreme masterpieces that end with a bang of the highest order (eg Mozart's _Jupiter_ Symphony, Strauss's _Ein Heldenleben_ or Beethoven's 7th) would be diminished by an encore of lesser quality. Encores have become far too commonplace and should be reserved for truly exceptional circumstances.


I agree with all of this, but I think the pieces I've heard that were followed up by encores were alright to follow with encores, and the circumstances were exceptional (we just don't get the New York Philharmonic coming through Kentucky). I've actually never heard an encore after a piece that can't be followed. I almost can't believe self-respecting artists would do that.

Okay, I just haven't been to enough concerts with monumental pieces.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I've never seen a concert where people were prevented from leaving before the encore began.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Well, I was very surprised to hear the encore "Danny Boy" after Shostakovich's 10th (as I mentioned in my opening post), so Delicious Manager's comments are right. But then again, a large part of the audience of that Australian Youth Orchestra concert were definitely not concert goers (eg. clapping between movements, taking photos with flash on their mobiles which the conductor said was not on when he was talking) so I don't think it made a difference. & yes, science is right, if you don't like it or are in a hurry to get home you can leave. Reviews of the AYO's identical concerts across the world (they toured after that time I saw them in Sydney) did mention the oddity of that encore, but not necessarily in a critical way, just to say it was strange that they followed a massive hour long work with a little ditty like that. By the way, their playing of the works on the program - Brett Dean, Mahler and Shostakovich - was excellent, imo (the reviewers agreed with me).



> So it all depends. What encore? After what works? By who?


Yes, this is true. The encore has to fit the context to a degree. As people have described their experiences above, this happens most of the time, performers are good at selecting appropriate pieces.



> I don't like encores when performers have Bartók's sonata as main program and they repeat last movemenent as encore...


Well this was a tradition going back in history. Often, one reads historical accounts of the premieres of say works by Mozart, Haydn or Beethoven & then often the most affecting movements from their symphonies would be encored.

But I do agree in that performers should maybe be a bit more creative today, particularly since these classics are very very old. On one radio broadcast I heard of a concert here in Australia, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin (after playing one of Beethoven's concertos - I think it was the 3rd) played a series of his own short compositions as encores. I think that this was very creative, and probably more interesting for the audience than hearing yet another rendition of _Fur Elise _or the famous bit of the _Moonlight Sonata_ or something like that (although maybe those would be too easy for him anyway)...


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Personally, I always find the surprise of an encore enjoyable, not least because of the humility shown by the performers by offering more music as a display of gratification for audience appreciation.

My only problem with it is pragmatic. Unfortunately, I live in a largely rural area of the UK, which means travelling by train to a concert (usually in London). I have to rely quite heavily on projected concert times in order to get the last train home, and, if an encore comes up, I have no choice but to leave, so I end up looking totally uninterested to the members of the audience in my row who happily judge me as I rush out, and frequently hear frustrated comments. Obviously, I don't care if they think I'm just a philistine who wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it annoys that me that people automatically assume the worst, and it makes me want to hit them :/


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Give me a encore


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Give me a encore


Likewise, the more the better.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Encores are good but no more than two. Also no dumb virtuoso showpiece stuff.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I sure do! And I expect most people do too.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Encores? Only if it's a second bottle of Jack Daniels.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Thank goodness 87.17% has said yes! .


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

mmmmm... sorry to eb the party pooper here but 


Yes they can be magical if the electricity is right and the stars are aligned.

NO not if they are to be expected. I don't go to so many rock gigs these days but in the 80's the band's all held their 'big hit' for the encore. The applause when they left the stage was as cusory as betwen any other song and as soon as the roadies had draped a towel around thier shoulders the band turned around and came straight back on stage and mimed SURPRISE! Some bands held their 'best' stuff back for the customary 2nd encore, which was often longer than the first! This and other rituals alientated me from large "gigs".

A couple of summers ago I was lucky enough to see The Ring at the the RAH Proms. After the opening night the applause went on for 30 minutes, on the final night 45 minutes. I would have killed Barenboim if he'd performed an encore. If you are appreciating something so magical, why risk spoiling it?


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

I went to a concert given by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko. After playing Khachaturian Gayane the encore was the Masquerade suite. I thought it was perfect and finished it nicely.


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## Friendlyneighbourhood (Oct 8, 2016)

I like encores that are SO long, that my parking ticket runs out


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

In 2015, I saw the Vienna Philharmonic at the London Proms, when they performed an encore of Elgar's 'Nimrod' from the 'The Enigma Variations'. When they played the first few notes, there was an audible frisson that ran through the audience. It was an incredibly powerful and moving moment, hearing this most British of compositions performed by one of the best, if not the best, orchestras in the world. On occasions such as this, encores are an incomparable experience and made my four hour drive home that evening a very small price to pay; of course the preceding performances (Brahms 3 and Franz Schmidt 2) helped too.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Belowpar said:


> mmmmm... sorry to eb the party pooper here but
> 
> Yes they can be magical if the electricity is right and the stars are aligned.
> 
> ...


In classical concerts I do generally like encores, but this post also strikes a chord.
When we used to go to folk festivals - e.g. Durham in the 1980s- the last number never really was so that once Vin Garbutt made us all laugh by saying, 'And now I'm going to sing *the pretendy-last* one....'


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