Lawrence Yates <[email protected]> wrote: ... we've all played the piece before, but not with this conductor - we watch and follow. ...
Often on this list someone expresses the usual musicians' antipathy towards conductors. (Even sometimes Hans.) But when _well_ done, the conductor's job is the hardest of any member of the orchestra. (Except maybe for the librarian and the manager, but those are different kinds of difficulties.) How does this relate to rehearsals? Rehearsal time in any professional group is aways less than it ought be. It is true that in top-line orchestras nearly every player will be familiar in advance with the part he plays (or at least will have woodshedded it before the first rehearsal, assuming a competent manager and librarian made that possible). The expert conductor knows this, but the expert conductor will also have spent hours studying the score so that he knows every part, and knows how he intends to interpret. So if rehearsal time is inadequate to play the piece through even once or twice, the skilled conductor will know the particular places where his interpretation may be dangerous for the performers, and he will focus on those places in rehearsal. That communicates to the performers what they _need_ to _know_ for that performance. Back in my student days, during long bus rides on tour, musicians would play a game by taking the conductor's score for a difficult, lengthy, contemporary concert-band piece and block out view of everything but a measure or two from a single accompaniment part. The conductor was asked to identify the instrument, movement, and approximate place in the movement. Our diligent and properly-prepared conductor generally won this game. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
