15. What's the point of having a conductor? Can't professional musicians keep time by themselves? (Classical music)
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This article is from the Classical music FAQ, by Gabe M. Wiener gabe@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
15. What's the point of having a conductor? Can't professional musicians keep time by themselves? (Classical music)
Yes, professional musicians can keep time by themselves, but a
conductor does significantly more than just beat time. A good
conductor will add interpretation and shape to a piece of music by
controlling the dynamics of the music and by indicating entrances and
cutoffs with great precision. There are some orchestras that play
without a conductor (the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra springs to mind),
but even in that case, there is usually one instrumentalist who
functions as the "leader" for a particular piece and whom the other
musicians look to for cues. Many pieces change tempo in mid-stride,
and a single person making the choice of exactly when and how can make
the transition occur with great precision.
In a large symphony orchestra there is also the additional problem
that very often the acoustics of the hall are such that the musicians
on, for instance, the extreme right of the orchestra simply cannot
hear what the musicians on the extreme left are doing, and thus it is
necessary to have a common reference, namely, the conductor. While it
is true that each musician can keep time, the accumulated error would
eventually cause the rhythm to become murky.
The conductor has yet another purpose, and that is to set the "tone"
of a piece. Whether the conductor uses sudden, forceful movements or
smooth and delicate strokes will in many ways affect the way the
musicians interpret the music and subsequently, the overall color of
the work.
Listen for yourself to the effects of the conductor. Pick any work
that you know well and listen to a particular recording many times...
until you really feel you *know* it. Then buy or borrow recordings of
the same piece under other conductors. How is it different? Is the
conductor interpreting the music differently? Is he adding color to
certain areas and letting other areas speak for themselves? With
practice it becomes relatively easy to differentiate conductors'
styles.
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