Brahms and French cuisine　-Afternoon on the Islands of Langerhans-　Haruki Murakami

The other day, while listening to a classical concert on FM radio, I forgot which piece it was, but after one of the movements ended, one person clapped their hands five times. It was quite embarrassing. However, I wonder who decided when, how, and for what reasons clapping is not allowed at the end of each movement. Personally, I think it's natural to want to clap your hands if you think it was good. But there may be deep and legitimate reasons that I cannot fathom. According to a book, it wasn't always like this. In 1885, when Brahms conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 4, at the request of his patron, the Duke of Meiningen, the third movement was repeated, and they were instructed to play the entire piece again after it was all over.

It's definitely an outrageous story. In a proper concert hall, when the third movement is over, it's ridiculous to say something like, "Oh, Brahms, that movement was pretty good, let's do it again." But at that time, it was a valid request. Maybe, like at a jazz club in Roppongi today, when there is a good solo, everyone would shout "Yeah, yeah!" It sounds like fun. There are also many table manners that don't make sense. Especially in Western cuisine, until recently, in proper settings, you had to balance rice on the back of your fork and eat it. It was a pain. And cutting a piece of meat and then putting it in your mouth, then cutting another piece and putting it in your mouth again was also cumbersome. Recently, I've been trying to finish the cutting process as much as possible and then just hold the fork in my right hand and eat without the knife. It's not good manners, but it's more enjoyable. I'm sure that the sight of a beautiful girl using only a fork to eat at a French restaurant is quite sexy.