Someone’s phone interrupted a Brahms concert – and it was really awkward

19 December 2018, 17:17 | Updated: 19 December 2018, 17:21

The musicians were lingering on the final exquisite note of the second movement of Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet… when a mobile phone went off. And it didn’t stop.

Ensemble Q were performing Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet for string quartet and clarinet, when an audience member’s Nokia ringtone started to blare out just as the second movement was coming to its beautiful end.

You might expect it to stop after a couple of rings – but oh no. This Nokia is the gift that keeps on giving.

When Haydn gets killed by a mobile phone, you stop the whole concert

The musicians sit there in awkward, shuffling silence for over 30 seconds until someone in the audience finally says: “Is that your phone, man?”

Ensemble Q have named the performance the ‘Brahms sextet for clarinet, string quartet and mobile phone’. At least they took it in good humour…