Be sure to indicate the reflection number in the heading of your paper and
follow other expectations for format and
writing criteria.
Do the descriptions of audience behavior at public concerts in the Weiss
and Taruskin text match your expectations? Why or why not?
Why do you imagine that general audiences at operas were more rowdy than
those at symphonies? How might the structural characteristics of symphonic
music encourage quiet, attentive behavior?
Journalist and popular music critic Michael Ventura argues that the pleasures
of a classical concert are vicarious and intellectual rather than direct
and sensual in a bodily sense. Would you agree? Is audience passivity a
necessary condition for all concert situations? Under what circumstances
might such passivity be discouraged? Refer to specific examples to support
your answer.