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

The composer isn’t the one waving the stick, that’s the role of the conductor. The conductor acts as a single objective metronome for all players to follow. This is useful for two reasons. First, each player’s inner metronome might be off just a little bit, and it’s helpful for them to have a guide. Second, orchestras are usually so large that there is usually a large sound delay between players at opposite ends. This means that if the players on one end sync their playing to when they hear the music from the other end, they’re actually going to be playing a bit later because sound doesn’t travel instantly.