Klarinet Archive - Posting 000634.txt from 2005/03

From: "colin.touchin@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] conducting
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:47:06 -0500

Hello all,
Fascinating as always to read reactions to conductors, with and
without technical accessories - as ever, the way you use a tool both
defines the tool's quality and refines its future development. The
long pole which caused Lully's gangrenous foot did indeed need
some modification before being widely used elsewhere. Louis Spohr,
a great violinist and leader, apparently rolled up the music (an
approach also seen in a wood carving of a renaissance composer)
and waved it like a white wand in front of the orchestra - a London
critic reviewing one of their tour performances objected to his
rudeness turning his back on the audience. But it seems he did more
or less "invent" conducting as we know it now.
Hans Keller's book "Criticism" includes sections on the "phoney
professions", such as music critic, viola player and conductor and
others. Always one of the wisest commentators and analysts on
music (and football, by the by) he noted that conductors made
themselves essential only after the music made them essential, ie.
Mahler's scores and other huge works required someone sufficiently
detached to control the full forces and the intricacies of the score.
But then the conductors insisted on conducting everything, including
works written much earlier than the 19th century which had always
previously been played by a group of musicians who simply listened
well!
As to the baton - Leonard Slatkin gave an entertaining lecture many
years ago in Manchester before he conducted a fine BBC
Philharmonic concert: he showed that using a baton makes him (and
everyone else) conduct differently. Although the players cannot
literally see the point of the baton (they are almost all too far away to
fix such a small focal point), by the conductor's desire to move that
point precisely, attention is drawn to specific arm and hand gestures
which are unique to that activity, and thus can become intrinsically
perfect for the expression of certain passages, phrases and styles of
music. He went on to say that one day in a vigorous cross-beat he'd
suddenly lost the baton from his right hand, and, after looking on the
floor, found it was sticking out of his left-hand index finger. This
caused him to conduct batonless for a month, but he returned to
using the baton for the specific precision he gained and relied upon.
I use a baton for large orchestra, large chorus (with orchestra), but
use hands only for chamber choir, and small ensembles. It's up to us
conductors to learn how to use the equipment (hands - and face, of
course - and/or baton) to convey a comprehensive silent analysis of
the music so the musicians understand their role in the texture and
structure at every moment, and our love and understanding of the
music - in this it is very like ballet and conducting could be described
as a language of gestures: it is a sign-language which has to be self-
explanatory, for noone ever gives the musicians the same
vocabulary book the conductor learns when studying. Probably a
good thing as enough players know better than the conductors how to
do it anyway!! Good hunting, Colin.

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