Encore

Encore is French for ‘again’. In concert practice, an encore is an additional piece performed at the end of a concert, usually in response to enthusiastic audience demand (applause, calls for ‘encore’, ‘bis!’). The encore extends the concert beyond the printed program.

The tradition is centuries old. Audiences cried ‘encore!’ to demand repetition of particularly admired moments — a popular aria in opera, a virtuosic passage in a recital. Eventually, the practice evolved into the modern encore: a separate piece (or pieces) performed at the end of the concert, often shorter than the main program and chosen for its accessibility or virtuosity.

Famous encores have become legendary. Horowitz’s encore performances of Schumann’s Träumerei or Liszt’s transcriptions; Heifetz’s short showpieces; opera singers’ favorite arias. The encore is the performer’s parting gift to the audience.

French, ‘again, still’.

If you’re a performer, prepare encores in advance. They should be shorter, more accessible than the main program — pieces that send the audience home happy.