Some of them, yes, not all, and especially not those who expect me to give up a day of my life for them but who will not pay me the respect of learning how to beat four beats in a bar or whatever the music requires - those who acknowledge that you need to practise for a lifetime to play a single instrument, but who expect to play the full orchestra on no lessons and no practice)
Lawrence, (who, like all of us, has played for some stinkers) On 22 May 2010 19:51, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Conducting is one of the jobs an orchestra sees every day that a lot of > people complain about but could never do well. There's a reason why they're > paid much higher than everyone else. I have a lot of respect and sympathy > for them. > > -William > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Haflich <[email protected]> > To: The Horn List <[email protected]> > Sent: Sat, May 22, 2010 2:06 pm > Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Hayden Follow Up > > > 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/valkhorn%40aol.com > > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/yateslawrence%40googlemail.com > -- Lawrenceyates.co.uk _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
