Conducting has become a
lost art. Most lay people and, surprisingly, even most musicians are
at a loss when asked to describe the characteristics of good conducting.
Beyond vague comments about "good stick technique" and mystical
attributes like musical authority, vision, charisma, élan, and
gravitas, there is little that even experienced musicians can say
about the source of the effectiveness of good conductors. Even master
conductors have a difficult time explaining what is at the source of
their effectiveness. This fundamental ignorance has led to charlatanism
among conductors, cynicism and resignation among players, and really
bad decisions in the boardrooms of orchestras.
Conducting the Music,
Not the Musicians (Carl Fischer; 480 pps.; $75; ISBN 0-8258-4244-1)
is a college-level textbook that brings clarity to the art of conducting.
The authors, Jerry and Henry Nowak, provide a step-by-step approach
to learning the elements of the conductor's art that actually make
a difference on the podium. Unlike Max Rudolf's classic The
Grammar of Conducting: A Comprehensive Guide to Baton Technique and
Interpretation (Schirmer, 1993), which focuses on the gestural lexicon
of conducting, or Eric Leinsdorf's The Composer's Advocate
(New Haven; 1981; out-of-print), which advocates the establishment of
musical authority through superior knowledge and discipline, the Nowaks
take the point of view that the conductor's job is to "motivate
and inspire the members of the ensemble to strive for the highest level
of musical performance that is possible at their current level of ability."
This philosophy places motivation
and inspiration at the source of effectiveness.
The path to motivation and
inspiration, say the brothers Nowak, is through clearly and eloquently
conducting the phrases of the music. This perspective stems from their
teachers, Pablo Casals and Lucien Cailliet, both proponents of using
the power of internal imagery to shape the external performance gestures
needed for an expressive performance. This approach is distinct from
influencing musicians through domination, demonstration of consummate
musicianship, telling clever and engaging stories, or employing other
purely verbal means. Said another way, we work on being and expressing
the musical phrases so clearly that the musicians find themselves naturally
creating the phrases with us.
Hence the title Conducting
the Music, Not the Musicians.
This teaching method introduces
a series of clear linguistic and musical distinctions that give a contextual
framework for talking about and learning the conductor's art. The
book is organized as a curriculum of graded lessons consisting of concepts,
technical information, and ensemble application exercises. The authors
have composed or arranged instrumental and vocal chorales and etudes
that provide musical examples for the student to use in practicing and
executing the concepts and skills being taught. These short examples
accompany each unit of study and are appropriate for beginning and high-school
orchestra, band, and chorus. Transpositions and orchestrations are supplied
to allow any combination of instruments to realize the score, making
these exercises perfect for use in conducting classes.
In addition to the expected
and well-designed units on beat patterns, dynamics, articulations, asymmetric
meters, left-hand basics, and so on—each with their own ensemble
applications of chorales and etudes—the authors provide insightful
materials for studying a wide range of topics germane to the working
conductor. Over 100 pages of the 480 in the book are devoted to aesthetic
perception, imagery, phrasing models, score preparation, ensemble balance,
aleatory music (music that incorporates elements of chance in its structure),
jazz, and rehearsal technique.
What is not dealt with,
except tangentially, are the skills, perspectives, and abilities in
the area of leadership, management, and self-mastery that are essential
for a conductor to function at a professional level. A master teacher
will be required to learn the art of conducting, as in any other instrument.
This book is designed primarily for music-school graduates who are training
themselves to work with students
in primary- and secondary-school educational ensembles.
The Oxford Companion
to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford University Press, 2002.
1,434 pps., $60. ISBN 0-1986-6212-2.
Everything you wanted to
know about music but were afraid to ask. Last updated in 1983, this
compendium of who's who in music has grown considerably in its
most recent iteration. According to the publisher, it includes over
1,000 new entries and nearly 70 percent more material than the preceding
edition.
Readers can search the Oxford
Companion to Music for information on more than just classical music.
The new edition includes valuable material on jazz, pop, and dance music
as well.
But for classical music
fans, this tome offers an unrivaled look at Western music from the Middle
Ages to the present day. There are nearly 8,000 entries, including articles
on players and composers, instruments, genres of music, notation, and
works of music. Direct and informative, the many articles offer slices
of historical information as well as cultural and societal implications
of music, composers, and musicians.
The edition is a rich reference
for anyone interested in music history, theory, study, and/or application.
Many of the entries employ musical excerpts, diagrams, and charts to
illustrate very clear examples. Entries such as "French Ars Nova
notation," "the grid system of
a five-course lute," and the
"Bach family tree" benefit greatly from the in-depth visual
representation. The back of the book contains an
extensive cross-referenced index.
—Heather K. Scott
Classical Music
101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music. Hyperion
Books, 2002. 336 pps., $14.95. ISBN 0-7868-8627-7.
Classical Music 101
is an amazingly complete volume, considering the scope of its content.
Even as a professional musician, I found it entertaining and informative
to read. This book covers all of the mysterious elements that my friends
who aren't familiar with classical music have asked me over the
years: What are the instruments that make up a symphony orchestra? How
did they evolve? How do they produce sound? The book also covers the
topic of tone quality (timbre) and how it applies to the "voices
of the orchestra," as well as the evolution of the orchestra, how
composers compose, how conductors conduct, how singers sing, how to
listen at a live performance, and whether to study the music beforehand
or just trust your experience.
Author Fred Plotkin addresses
what it means to really listen to and appreciate music. He states
that the goal of his book is "to teach the reader to develop listening
skills and memory and to nourish an eagerness to make connections among
different composers and their works." In his opening chapter, "First
Hearing: Developing Your Listening Skills," he uses the example
of listening to a Mozart piano concerto several times to get to know
it better, introducing the idea of developing intimacy with pieces of
music over a long period of time. The reader is challenged throughout
the book to think about what he or she has heard in a particular recorded
performance and to compare it with a different version, or to think
about it in a historical context, or to consider it again after reading
an interview with a current artist. I found the discussions with conductor
James Levine, pianist Emanuel Ax, and mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (to
name a few) to be entertaining and insightful.
The writing is well paced
and lively throughout and there is an impressive discography and resource
guide "for the classical music lover" at the back of the book.
Classical Music 101 should be added to the curriculum of any
music-appreciation class and I highly recommend it for musicians, avid
music fans, and would-be concert goers alike.
—Meg
Eldridge
Memories and
Commentaries (new edition) by Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft.
Faber & Faber, 2002. 272 pps., $30. ISBN 0-5712-1242-5.
Robert Craft—Igor Stravinsky's
assistant, editor, advocate, friend, conductor, and biographer for over
20 years—has reworked his informal talks and interviews with the
composer into a series of chapters that appear in chronological order
based on the stages of Stravinsky's life: Russian, Swiss, French,
and American. Memories and Commentaries is a newly edited one-volume
version of the original five-volume series titled Conversations that
was published from 1958–1969.
Each chapter begins with
a listing of the pieces Stravinsky composed during that period. For
example, "The Russian Background, 1882–1913" includes
The Firebird, Petrushka, Zvezdolikiy, The Rite
of Spring, and The Nightingale. The composer describes his
childhood in St. Petersburg, the political and cultural climate of life
under Tsar Nicholas II, his early piano lessons, and his later training
in orchestration with Rimsky-Korsakov, whom he regarded as his "second
father." Stravinsky discusses his associations with the Tchaikovsky
family, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Debussy, Puccini, Glazunov, and, most importantly,
the beginnings of his famous collaboration with the great Serge Diaghilev
and his Ballets Russes, which are further brought to life in the chapter
"France, 1920–1939."
These interviews with Craft
are considered the only "writings" by Stravinsky in his own
voice, and Craft has kept his editing to a minimum, providing necessary
corrections of fact in footnotes and adding introductions to chapters
to provide additional historical context when needed.
Memories and Commentaries
is a fascinating book, one that took me on a journey from 19th-century
Russian orchestras to the Paris music scene of the early 20th century
to the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic of the mid 20th
century. The final chapter, "Perspectives of an Octogenarian,"
leaves the reader with a sense of Stravinsky's deep reverence for
the greatness of Monteverdi, Mozart, and Beethoven.
—M.E.
