Klarinet Archive - Posting 001071.txt from 2000/10

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] A conductor
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 15:07:34 -0400

> Although his body language frequently indicated the basic tempo, he
> was not conducting the piece beat-by-beat. In fact, for half of the
> piece, he held his baton by the middle so as not to stab himself,
> similar to how you might hold a clarinet in the middle until
> you needed it again.
> ...anyway, he had magnificent facial expressions.....

Why all the animosity between musicians and conductors? (That was a
deliberate choice of words.) First, musicians (at least some of them) are
artists, who have spent a lifetime of work, time, effort, sweat, money and
other kinds of sacrifice in order to be able to express themselves in music.
They tend to be knowledgeable about their art, and to have strong opinions
about how it should be played. Some conductors tend to have much of the
same attitude and approach, but they can exercise a great amount of control
over the musical product.

What do musicians want from conductors? All they want is someone who will
enable them to play at the highest level of which they are capable. Boards
of directors of orchestras never understand this. They always stupidly
assume that musicians will favor a certain conductor because they are
looking for someone who will be "easy" on them. Nothing could be farther
from the truth.

Such motions as holding the baton in the middle, shifting it from hand to
hand, etc., I consider to be affectations, and generally of no help
whatsoever. It looks good to the audience.

Generally, if the orchestra is good enough, the conductor can just be
ignored much of the time. However, this summer I actually saw a performance
by a major orchestra of world-class reputation where the conductor was so
bad that the orchestra actually couldn't play. They would have been better
off with no conductor at all. I won't mention the orchestra or the
conductor, but it was a painful experience for the audience, and much more
so for the musicians.

Ed Lacy
**************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy, Professor of Music
University of Evansville
1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
telephone (812)479-2252; e-mail: EL2@-----.edu
**************************************************************

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