If everyone has sheet music and all the timing information down, then what’s the composer’s role?
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In addition to what most folks are saying, think about the conductor like a coach in sports. Why does a team have a coach if they don’t score any points? Well, it’s the coach’s role to decide what kind of plays the team makes, and likewise the conductor’s role to decide how the orchestra shapes the music.
To use a famous example from writing, think of the sentence “I owe her money?” Notice how it changes based on the emphasis: “I **owe** her money?” “I owe **her** money?” “I owe her **money**?” What’s the correct phrasing? Depends on the context, it’s not obvious in the text. Likewise, a lot of phrasing in music is not obvious in the written music, and the conductor has the final say in decisions if different musicians are trying to say the same thing with conflicting emphasis.
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