Why? (music theory)

Why does some music have a fermata (pause) over a final rest at the end of a piece of music? What's the point in pausing on a rest if no music follows?

Thanks, Mr Bump

I would say it is a resting point after the music, a short time to gather your breath before normal life continues and the audience starts to applaud. It's always a bit annoying for me when people start clapping immediately after the last note, without even taking the time for some secondes of silence. I like a short time to let the music sink in.

Bye, Christof

My jazz mentor refers to this as framing the piece. A short bit of silence before and after a piece.

What is amazing, though, and I've see this with many musicians and notably with South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, is when a piece is so well-performed, and has so captured the entire audience, that the 'frame of silence' at the end of the piece extends. I'd swear that one time it was a half minute before anyone applauded.

At a certain point, you could feel the tension rising, and nobody wanted to be the first to start applauding.

If one has never seen Abdullah Ibrahim play, please try to do so. He's in his 60s now, I think, and he's not going to be performing that many more years (he's already cut back his US appearances in recent years).

Most of his solo piano performances (and many of his trio performances, too) basically consist of one long medley of tunes, and he sometimes will revisit themes two or maybe more times during his performances. He'll usually play 45 to an hour nonstop (and encores can be over 20 minutes!) and he does an amazing job of weaving things in and out, raising and lowering emotions. The texture of his playing is always amazing too. Sometimes a very light Bill Evans-like touch, seemingly effortless, and sometimes boisterous and rhythmic. It's possible to hear everything from J.S.Bach-like to Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk (what he calls his main three influences) along with Gospel, South African township swing and his own unique style that nobody else plays.

It has to do with the gesture the musician makes at the end. Wants you to keep the expectation past the last note so nobody stirs. Means 'don't relax just yet'.

Elena http://www.concertpianist.com

It's no wonder the audience waited 30 seconds before applauding. They needed to be 100% sure that he'd finished...

Its always the silence that is the loudest note.

The extra pause may also be called for between movements of a sonata, suite, or other such extended work.

And as all Pogorelich fans know, Ivo keeps depressed the last note of each part of a piece , at least 30 seconds, just to measure the decay rate of the piano (the sustain).

They didn't know if it was the end of the piece and no one wanted to make a fool of himself. They played on the safe side.

especially for those pianos fitted with the QRS Self tuning system. During the fermata pause, the pianist pushes the red button and the piano re-tunes

Last time I did that, I found out that it was the 'Eject' button, and it pitched me through the ceiling of the auditorium. It was a curiously gratifying end to the performance... <G>