A History Of Orchestral Conducting

Although the bibliography of literature about personalities in the conducting world is extensive, a comprehensive, scholarly study of the history of conducting has been sorely lacking. Georg Schünemann's respected study, published in 1913, was brief and restricted to the procedures of time-beating. No work has attempted to examine the role of the orchestral conductor and to document the evolution of his art from historical, technical, and aesthetic perspectives. Dr. Elliott W. Galkin, musicologist, conductor, and critic-twice winner of the Deems Taylor award for distinguished writing about music-has produced such a work in A History of Orchestral Conducting. The central historical section of the book, which examines chronologically the theories and functions of time-beating and interpretative concepts of performance, is preceded by discussions of rhythm, development of the orchestral medium, and the evolving characteristics of orchestration. Conductors of unusual pivotal influence are examined in depth, as is the increasingly complex psychology of the podium. Critical writings since the time of Monteverdi and the birth of the orchestra are surveyed and compared. Analyses of conducting as an art and craft by musicians from Berlioz to Bernstein and commentators from Mattheson, Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Mann to Jacques Barzun, are described and discussed. A fascinating collection of engravings, wood cuts, photographs and caricatures contributes to the richness of this work.

The nineteenth century witnessed the birth of the public figure of the orchestral conductor. Like composers and performers, orchestral conductors registered the transformed concept of the 'musical work'. Whilst the Industrial Revolution generated new types of profession, the orchestral conductor's career emerged, as an outcome of the greater consideration that was devoted to the act of 'performance'. In the present volume nineteen scholars explore historical and sociological phenomena connected to the nineteenth-century system of performance and musical production in which the orchestral conductor worked. A number of chapters investigate the musical performances of famous orchestral conductors; conducting by renowned composers (including Berlioz, Bottesini, Charpentier, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Paganini and Rolla) and orchestral treatises for military bands. The authors featured are: Fabrizio Ammetto, Maria Teresa Arfini, Remy Campos, Paola Cannas, Antonio Carlini, Claudia Colombati, Mariateresa Dellaborra, Gilles Demonet, Elisa Grossato, Emmanuel Herve, Etienne Jardin, Walter Kurt Kreyszig, Naomi Matsumoto, Michela Niccolai, Fiona M. Palmer, Rudolf Rasch, Renato Ricco, Gesine Schroder, Ruben Vernazza.

The conductor—tuxedoed, imposingly poised above an orchestra, baton waving dramatically—is a familiar figure even for those who never set foot in an orchestral hall. As a veritable icon for classical music, the conductor has also been subjected to some ungenerous caricatures, presented variously as unhinged gesticulator, indulged megalomaniac, or even outright impostor. Consider, for example: Bugs Bunny as Leopold Stokowski, dramatically smashing his baton and then breaking into erratic poses with a forbidding intensity in his eyes, or Mickey Mouse in Fantasia, unwittingly conjuring dangerous magic with carefree gestures he doesn’t understand. As these clichés betray, there is an aura of mystery around what a conductor actually does, often coupled with disbelief that he or she really makes a difference to the performance we hear. The Silent Musician deepens our understanding of what conductors do and why they matter. Neither an instruction manual for conductors, nor a history of conducting, the book instead explores the role of the conductor in noiselessly shaping the music that we hear. Writing in a clever, insightful, and often evocative style, world-renowned conductor Mark Wigglesworth deftly explores the philosophical underpinnings of conducting—from the conductor’s relationship with musicians and the music, to the public and personal responsibilities conductors face—and examines the subtler components of their silent art, which include precision, charisma, diplomacy, and passion. Ultimately, Wigglesworth shows how conductors—by simultaneously keeping time and allowing time to expand—manage to shape ensemble music into an immersive, transformative experience, without ever making a sound.

A fresh, original look at the art of conducting, including Pattern Cubes, which is a three-dimensional system for charting baton movement. Through this book, both the aspiring and the experienced conductor will benefit from Harold Farberman's experience and ideas.

Contents Include: Part 1 The Technique of Conducting - The Beat - Starting position - Action - Gesture - "Getting Hold of the Orchestra" Change of Speed, Change of Time - Beginning a Piece of Movement - Pauses and Leads - Rehearsing - The Score and Parts - Concertos, Solos and Recitative - Arrangement of the Orchestra on the Platform, Customs, Pitch - Part 2 The Instruments of the Orchestra: The Constitution of the Orchestra - String Technique - Wind Instruments, Practical Acoustics - Wood-Wind Instruments - Brass Instruments - Reeds and Mouthpieces - Transposition - Wind Instruments - Part 3 - A Short History of Conducting - Vocabulary of Orchestral Terms - Bibliography: Historical: Conducting; Orchestration

How are conductors' silent gestures magicked into sound by a group of more than a hundred brilliant but belligerent musicians? The mute choreography of great conductors has fascinated and frustrated musicians and music-lovers for centuries. Orchestras can be inspired to the heights of musical and expressive possibility by their maestros, or flabbergasted that someone who doesn't even make a sound should be elevated to demigod-like status by the public. This is the first book to go inside the rehearsal rooms of some of the most inspirational orchestral partnerships in the world - how Simon Rattle works at the Berlin Philharmonic, how Mariss Jansons deals with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and how Claudio Abbado creates the world's most luxurious pick-up band every year with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. From London to Budapest, Bamberg to Vienna, great orchestral concerts are recreated as a collection of countless human and musical stories.