message: 5
date: Sun, 8 Oct 2006 13:01:52 +0200
from: "hans" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
subject: [Hornlist] Conductors etc
I try it again to incend a fire(works) about conductors &
their means of interpretation, as the first attempt resulted
in zero effect but one single reply. Are you to cautious to
talk about conductors ? Because a few lure around in several
lists ? What to fear ? Is it impossible to talk the truth ?
Even about music ? Poor world intimidated by a handful of
people, seems not funny but rather pervers.
I don't think people are afraid to express their opinions because
some conductor might be watching the list.
What makes a good conductor ???? Seems an interesting
question. Well, most conductors have a very limited means of
expresions or let us better say "tools". They know
slow-fast, loud-soft, hard-soft, short-long. But this could
be done by a programmed machine also. Just think about an
electric programmable jumping jack. I might names this way
of conducting "the bi-dimensional-music-commanding".
Whatever you call it, i agree that there are fewer great conductors
today than ever. There are a lot of technicians and posers out there.
Everything is geared towards "perfect" performances. There is a real
lack of connection with the higher musical standards of the past.
But there is more, like bringing the tempos into a certain
mathematical relation (plain numbers, no fractions), work
out the phrases set by the composer, balance the dynamics
within the sections & between the different instrument
groups to form a unified sound. This relates to all kind of
music. Keep single members or sections from exaggerating
their dynamic. Keep sections or the whole at lower dynamic,
so the different solos can shine. All this can be learned or
acquired by listening to many performances conducted by well
acknowledged maestros. Together with the first paragraph
requirements we could name this now
"three-dimensional-music-commanding".
All these things are good things, and, unfortunately, most of us
would settle for someone who came close to this. Often, however, we
are faced with conductors who can't even keep a steady beat.
Something is still missing, right?
But there is one dimension still left, the dimension which
is the most necessary at all levels: expression, expression
that does not just make an audience excited, but more, make
it moved. There could come excitement in the audience &
within the orchestra because of the technical brilliance &
the perfection of sound & execution. But still there=B4s
nobody moved besides the conductor himself perhaps.
Yes this is where most conductors are severely lacking these days.
There seems to be an idea that if you do all the other things right,
then the expression will magically appear. Sort of like putting all
the right ingredients together in a recipe without tasting it.
How to achieve that most important goal ? The fourth
dimension. Using the right vocables during the rehearsals,
preconditioned everything else is right. The richer the
vocabulary of the conductor, the richer the colours of the
orchestra and the richer the performance. Vocables as
"lovely, blooming, heroic, thundering, not audible but
noticeable, fanatic, fantastic, full of love, glooming like
rock coal, poisonous, destructing, like clouds before
hailstorms, radiating sunny, heating up like a hord of huns,
icy, sound of glass, static, desperately sad, full of
heavenly joy, etc." - these would be the words we musicians
would understand & interpret the right way.
Yes, this is very well said.
But this
requires conductors, human conductors, musical & super
sensitive characters, which are too rare today within the
list of travelling stars.
Amen.
It seems too often, that the only
teaching they received was counting $$$$$$$. But there are
some gems left, fortunately, but most of them will never get
any chance to explore his or her potentials with an
orchestra of high class. This is the reason, why some
provincial orchestras can do a superb performance once a
while, which would blame the superstars.
The superstars are often overrated. (Read "Who Killed Classical
Music") They are more like the "survivors" these days. People who
have managed to stay around or get jobs for reasons other than their
musical talent. Of, course, the classical music field has fallen into
the same "bottom-lining" as the rest of our world- players as well as
conductors. Everything is reduced to "measurable" results in order to
balance the budget or to simply define success.
I had a teacher in high school who thought he would be cool with me
if he could make some brilliant statement about music in class. He
said, "Well, music can be reduced to mathematical (we didn't have
computers in those days) formulas, can it not?" He wasn't really
happy with my answer.
As Einstein said, "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not
everything that counts can be counted."
Sincerely,
Wendell Rider
For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", the Summer
Seminar and Internet Horn Lessons go to my website: www.wendellworld.com
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