At 6:30 AM -0500 2/11/12, Raymond Horton wrote: >Just imagine sitting in an orchestra, while it is being conducted. What do >you see on the page, what do you see in the stick? Sure, Mozart put a big >fermata over the voice part - and today's conductor can hold the stick >while the singer takes time with those notes - easy. > >But if the conductor is conducting a player in several held notes while >every one else has one fermata, then he.she has to stop and talk first, and >there is still a potential for a mistake - not easy.
I have to agree, although this is NOT a really big conducting problem. With one hand held high and still the other can dictate the note changes. BUT the possibility of misunderstanding is still there, even for a major orchestra and a highly skilled conductor, and almost certainly for a volunteer or amateur ensemble. That's why I agree with both David and Ray that all parts should show the same rhythmic breakdown with ties. But composers hardly ever do that. Fermatas in general are any conductor's bugaboo, from first-semester conducting class on up the ladder, and it does take skill and practice to conduct them well and clearly. The opening of Beethoven's 5th is a notorious case, even though everyone KNOWS what it's supposed to sound like, and that's a case where a conductor can easily do more harm than good by overconducting! John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music School of Performing Arts & Cinema College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences 290 College Ave., Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "Machen Sie es, wie Sie wollen, machen Sie es nur schön." (Do it as you like, just make it beautiful!) --Johannes Brahms _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
