What are composers doing when they’re waving the stick?

Question

If everyone has sheet music and all the timing information down, then what’s the composer’s role?

In: 952

Answer 1

Even skilled musicians can gradually get off when it comes to timing, especially when it comes to tempo changes. Everyone might have a slightly different idea of what “speed up” or “slow down” means, or if it’s a really drastic or sudden tempo change. The conductor’s role is to make sure everything stays on pace by swinging the baton in tempo with the music, as well as making other hand gestures to communicate various cues throughout the music.