Author: its the Lencho
Date: 2005-06-28 05:37
To a previous post, I feel compelled to respond.
Nothing substantial… Just a counter-thought/counter-observation/and counter-theory.
Now, it IS true that getting a group of superb musicians to play well isn’t always the hardest job in the world. But to get on top of that podium is not a goal easily achieved. In other words, to get in front of a group of good musicians, you have to be pretty darn good yourself.
But even then, on the other side of the podium, does the conductor really matter? A hot topic for many people, but I’m of the belief that a group without a conductor can play fine anyway.
Heck, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra does it all the time.
But the quality of musicians as a GROUP is more often than not, variable. Furtwangler, in his Vermachtnis, claimed that: “There are orchestra leaders under whom the smallest village band plays as if it were the Vienna Philharmonic and there are those under whom even the Vienna Philharmonic sounds like a village band.” This was in reference to the legendary Arthur Nikisch. Obviously the conductor does have a large impact on the group he shapes, regardless of their skill level. Furtwangler himself actually managed to hinder the precision of any group he conducted. That’s saying quite a bit in the way of projecting a personality.
The point I’m trying to get at is that the reason why certain conductors are great is because their ability to inflict their will upon the music. With any large-scale group, the musicians can be left to run themselves smoothly, like a finely oiled machine. But a car still needs a driver, right? One mind is elected as the leader and he or she works with the orchestra to impose a single vision onto the music. That process itself takes a tremendous amount of energy, knowledge, experience, and a fair deal of inspiration on the conductor’s part.
And for the record: conductors DO say things like “Mr. Combs, could you please try phrasing your part 'this way' next time around?” What else happens at rehearsal?
The orchestra is there. And part of the credit goes to them. But that’s not to deprive the conductor of the quality of his vision. Should the conductor be anything less than exceptional, then the orchestra will never exceed him. The times when an orchestra plays like magic – that’s when you know that a great conductor has enabled them to play so.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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