Klarinet Archive - Posting 000462.txt from 2005/03

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] OT: conducting without a baton
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:12:38 -0500

<<<Are there others, ANYWHERE, who prefer to do instrumental conducting
WITHOUT a baton?>>>

As a performer, I find that when conductors put the baton down in order
to "help" the orchestra be more expressive, it is simply an irritation.
I consider it an affectation, designed mostly to look good to the
audience.

The most irritating thing is when conductors do not use the baton, but
hold the right hand as though there were a baton in it, or stick out
their index finger and use it as if it were a baton.

When you are conducting without a baton, which part of the hand do you
want the orchestra to follow? Or, which finger should they follow? It
seems to me that it is analogous to conductors who conduct with both
hands - which one should the players watch?

I have never met a performer who prefers that conductors not use a
baton. I even prefer to see choral conductors use a baton. In my
observation, they tend to be able to be more precise, and the ensembles
they conduct tend to be more rhythmic.

Almost everything that conductors profess to be doing to "help" the
players turns out to be for the convenience of the conductor, not the
performers.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville

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