Klarinet Archive - Posting 000791.txt from 1996/10

From: Paul Katula <Pkatula@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Watch the Conductor! Was Re: Berlin Phil clarinetists?
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 18:44:10 -0500

David Niethamer responded to me:

>>If you want to make the conductor look bad (for example, if you don't like
>>the conductor), then it might be possible to ignore the conductor...

> I had a conductor friend tell me (in a weak moment, I'm sure) that the
> *worst* thing you could do to a conductor was to play *right on top of
> the beats*!! We have some trumpets in the RSO who occasionally do
> exactly that, and it creates real chaos until they're asked "not to rush"
> (!!!)

I read about players in the Berlin Philharmonic playing "ahead" of the
conductor. This puzzled me. But, what I'm sure they were doing was
playing on top of the beats, or rushing, or anticipating. All of these
are very dangerous. Since musicians, if you ask them, are not usually
aware of anything but playing exactly where the conductor puts the
beat, I think it's always the conductor's fault, unless, like I said,
if the orchestra is *ignoring* the conductor. The surest way to ignore
a conductor is to anticipate the beat. This will almost certainly lead
to chaos and frustration, since everyone will be anticipating just a
little bit differently.

If the conductor is inconsistent or gives a hesitant beat, the
orchestra always picks up on this uncertainty. In this case, the
orchestra will usually rely on their "experience" (for lack of a better
word right now) to play together, whether or not that is "with" the
conductor.

Now, there's another issue about anticipation. Because of the
increased amount of time it takes lower instruments, such as the tuba,
string bass, maybe bass clarinets, and so on, to resonate, those
players sometimes have to anticipate the true entrance, but this is
only by a few milliseconds, and it's really an entirely different issue
from watching vs. not watching the conductor. I think if trumpets are
doing this (or clarinets for that matter), either the conductor is
inconsistent making their natural reaction to his/her conducting
unpredictable (especially in orchestras that don't have years of
collective experience to rely on), or they're completely ignoring
him/her.

-Paul Katula