Sounding Now

Distilled from the legendary groups of old, four voices of depth and maturity blended to give warmth and harmony to the English tradition.

Dave Lowry
Tom Addison
Sean O’Shea
Barry Lister

Historical Background

The Claquer were an organized body of people who, either for hire or from other motives, banded together to applaud or deride a performance and thereby attempt to influence the audience, especially during competitions. As an institution they date back to ancient Greece. Under the Roman Empire claques were common in the law courts as well as the theatre. In the 16th-century a French poet, Jean Daurat would buy up a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays and distributed them gratuitously to those who promised publicly to express their approval. In the 18th century they created an organisation of claque, and opened an office in Paris for the supply of Claquers. It became a regular institution. The manager of a theatre sends an order for any number of Claquers. They would usually work under an elected leader a chef de claque, whose duty was to start the demonstration of approval or disapproval, depending what they were hired to do. The Claquers had different roles – there were the Commissaires, those who learnt pieces of the play by heart, and drew the attention to the audience to its good points between the acts; The Rieurs who laughed loudly at the jokes; the Pleureurs or pleaders who feigned tears, and the Bisseurs who simply clapped their and shouted to secure encores.