All Topics  
Claque

 
Claque

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Claque
 
 
  Topics Claque Topic Home

Claque (French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 for "slapping") is, in its origin, a term which refers to an organized body of professional applauders
Applause

Applause is primarily the expression of approval by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise ....
 in French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called claqueurs.

Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when the emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 acted, he had his performance greeted by an encomium
Encomium

Encomium is a Latin language word deriving from the Classical Greek ???????? meaning the praise of a person or thing. Related to this general meaning, "encomium" also identifies several distinct aspects of rhetoric:...
 chanted by five thousand of his soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
s.

This inspired the 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat
Jean Daurat

Jean Daurat , was a France poet and scholar, a member of the La Pl?iade.He was born Jean Dinemandy at Limoges in 1508, a member of a noble family....
 to develop the modern claque.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Claque'
Start a new discussion about 'Claque'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Claque (French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 for "slapping") is, in its origin, a term which refers to an organized body of professional applauders
Applause

Applause is primarily the expression of approval by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise ....
 in French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called claqueurs.

Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when the emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 acted, he had his performance greeted by an encomium
Encomium

Encomium is a Latin language word deriving from the Classical Greek ???????? meaning the praise of a person or thing. Related to this general meaning, "encomium" also identifies several distinct aspects of rhetoric:...
 chanted by five thousand of his soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
s.

This inspired the 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat
Jean Daurat

Jean Daurat , was a France poet and scholar, a member of the La Pl?iade.He was born Jean Dinemandy at Limoges in 1508, a member of a noble family....
 to develop the modern claque. Buying a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays, he gave them away in return for a promise of applause. In 1820 claques underwent serious systematization when an agency in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 opened to manage and supply claqueurs.

By 1830 the claque had become an institution. The manager of a theatre or opera house was able to send an order for any number of claqueurs. These were usually under a chef de claque (leader of applause), who judged where the efforts of the claqueurs were needed and to initiate the demonstration of approval. This could take several forms. There would be commissaires ("officers/commissioner") who learned the piece by heart and called the attention of their neighbors to its good points between the acts. Rieurs (laughers) laughed loudly at the jokes. Pleureurs (criers), generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. Chatouilleurs (ticklers) kept the audience in a good humor, while bisseurs (encore-ers) simply clapped and cried "Bis! Bis!" to request encores
Encore (concert)

An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French language "encore", which means "again"; multiple encores are not uncommon....
.

The practice spread to Italy (famously at La Scala
La Scala

The Teatro alla Scala , in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous opera houses. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778, under the name Nuovo Regio Ducal Teatro alla Scala with Antonio Salieri Europa riconosciuta....
, Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
), Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 (Covent Garden
Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building, often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", is the home of Royal Opera, London , Royal Ballet, London and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House....
) and New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 (the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880, is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Peter Gelb is the company's general manager and James Levine is music director....
). Claques were also used as a form of extortion
Extortion

Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a crime, which occurs, when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion....
, as singers were commonly contacted by the chef de claque before their debut and forced to pay a fee, in order not to get booed
Booing

Booing is the act of showing wikt:displeasure for someone or something, generally an entertainer, by loudly yelling "Boo" or making other noises of disparagement, such as hissing....
.

Toscanini and Mahler discouraged claques, a part of the development of concert etiquette
Concert etiquette

Concert etiquette refers to a set of norm s of people who attend musical performances. These norms vary depending on the type of music performance and can be stringent or informal....
.

Sources


  • The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5


See also

  • Ringer
    Ringer

    Ringer can refer to:* An impostor* The Ringer , a comedy film starring Johnny Knoxville and Katherine Heigl* Ringer , an EP by Four Tet.* The mechanism in a telephone that announces an incoming call, or plays a ringtone...
  • Shill
    Shill

    A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer....
  • Laugh track
    Laugh track

    A laugh track, laughter soundtrack, laughter track, LFN , canned laughter or a laughing audience is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television comedy shows and sitcoms....
  • Professional mourning
    Professional mourning

    Professional mourning or paid mourning is a mostly historical occupation practiced in Near Eastern cultures and many other parts of the world....
  • Astroturfing
    Astroturfing

    Astroturfing is a word in American English describing formal politics, advertising, or public relations campaigns seeking to create the impression of being spontaneous "grassroots" behavior, hence the reference to the Artificial turf, AstroTurf....
  • Cheerleading
    Cheerleading

    Cheerleading is a sport that uses organized routines that range from 1 minute to 3 minutes made from elements of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and List of cheerleading stunts to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games and matches and/or compete at cheerleading competitions....