I think there’s another problem, too, which is the assumption that every piece of classical music is trying to make a Very Serious Statement. I think that’s why I’m fine with goofy irreverent song/album titles but find goofy irreverent piece titles annoying. In the latter case, I automatically assume that the composer is making a declaration about goofiness — which is no fun at all! — rather than simply being goofy.

As for “interesting,” I thought that was just polite-speak for “I didn’t like it.”

This is why people at concert receptions say that a piece was “interesting.”

But people are quiet during plays, and arts-oriented people don’t typically feel like going to a play is a chore. I even know people in the new-music world who feel like going to new-music concerts is a chore. That’s a problem.

playing in venues other than concert halls

(Now we get to see if HTML works in comments too.) As an artist, you’ve got to work out where your art fits into people’s lives. Music events are things that people tend to do for entertainment and socialisation, so putting them in a venue where people want to socialise is a really good idea.

Honestly, I think advertising is a big part of this–just planting the idea in people’s heads that this is a thing they can do for fun. One of the constraints with the arts is just advertising budgets–we’ve got nothing on movie studios.

I’m not sure I mind being told when to clap: there are very stylised cues in the theatre, and it’s sort of comforting to know that everybody’s on the same page. A poet I saw recently enjoined everybody to hold their applause til the end of his set, which was also helpful–it seemed to make the room feel more relaxed.