If everyone has sheet music and all the timing information down, then what’s the composer’s role?
In: 952
Side Note:
An 1812 Overture was played at a baseball stadium…..with REAL artillery (blanks) used for the cannon.
They had National Guard working the many individual artillery pieces and a true musician standing behind each Guard. The musician would slap the back of the Guard when it was time for his cannon (voice commands not reliable here).
COOL EFFECT full orchestra and real cannon. But it would have been impossible without the musician watching the conductor to know when it was time to slap the man on his cannon. The musician knew when his guy was coming up and the exact instance it was needed.
The crowd would be able to tell if one cannon was off just a bit in timing.
Side Note:
An 1812 Overture was played at a baseball stadium…..with REAL artillery (blanks) used for the cannon.
They had National Guard working the many individual artillery pieces and a true musician standing behind each Guard. The musician would slap the back of the Guard when it was time for his cannon (voice commands not reliable here).
COOL EFFECT full orchestra and real cannon. But it would have been impossible without the musician watching the conductor to know when it was time to slap the man on his cannon. The musician knew when his guy was coming up and the exact instance it was needed.
The crowd would be able to tell if one cannon was off just a bit in timing.
The very premise of your question is invalid. Composers don’t do the stick thing. Conductors do that.
The very premise of your question is invalid. Composers don’t do the stick thing. Conductors do that.
i’m a fan of classical music, but the only time I’ve seen a professional orchestra perform was one doing rehearsals at the Hollywood bowl. there’s no charge to watch and I was in town for a visit. I found it very interesting for a couple reasons and would be happy to elaborate. there definitely was some underlying drama betweenthe conductor and the lead violinist, lol!
i’m a fan of classical music, but the only time I’ve seen a professional orchestra perform was one doing rehearsals at the Hollywood bowl. there’s no charge to watch and I was in town for a visit. I found it very interesting for a couple reasons and would be happy to elaborate. there definitely was some underlying drama betweenthe conductor and the lead violinist, lol!
Conductor here!
When I’m waving the stick/hands, I’m communicating information with my ensemble (primarily choirs). Generally, if I want them to get louder I use larger gestures; to get quieter, softer ones.
I also function as a metronome to keep their time. Everyone has a slightly different internal metronome — if they’re all sync’d to me instead, they won’t get ahead or behind each other.
I also will cue entrances; sometimes, people forget to count, or get lost.
Lastly, my main job is *rehearsing* them. My objective is to help them be more…well, musical. Some composers are better at this than others (see Leonard Slatkin or Leonard Bernstein), but our objective is to help the musicians under our baton to emote together and bring you, the listener, into the music; we don’t want to just sing/play *at* you! We want to move you, whether that’s through the heartbreaking beauty of [Jenkins’ Benedictus](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdLTxOD1KM)…
…or the rollicking fun of [Holsinger’s “Abram’s Pursuit”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4tiFNS-qg&pp=ygUZYWJyYW0ncyBwdXJzdWl0IGhvbHNpbmdlcg%3D%3D)…
…or even make you laugh with [Lemony Snicket’s “The Composer is Dead.”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YVQ3xTXL6EA)
Our goal as a conductor is to help be the conduit between the music, the musicians, and you. 🙂
Conductor here!
When I’m waving the stick/hands, I’m communicating information with my ensemble (primarily choirs). Generally, if I want them to get louder I use larger gestures; to get quieter, softer ones.
I also function as a metronome to keep their time. Everyone has a slightly different internal metronome — if they’re all sync’d to me instead, they won’t get ahead or behind each other.
I also will cue entrances; sometimes, people forget to count, or get lost.
Lastly, my main job is *rehearsing* them. My objective is to help them be more…well, musical. Some composers are better at this than others (see Leonard Slatkin or Leonard Bernstein), but our objective is to help the musicians under our baton to emote together and bring you, the listener, into the music; we don’t want to just sing/play *at* you! We want to move you, whether that’s through the heartbreaking beauty of [Jenkins’ Benedictus](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdLTxOD1KM)…
…or the rollicking fun of [Holsinger’s “Abram’s Pursuit”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4tiFNS-qg&pp=ygUZYWJyYW0ncyBwdXJzdWl0IGhvbHNpbmdlcg%3D%3D)…
…or even make you laugh with [Lemony Snicket’s “The Composer is Dead.”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YVQ3xTXL6EA)
Our goal as a conductor is to help be the conduit between the music, the musicians, and you. 🙂
I think you mean conductor. A conductor shows where the best falls so that everyone stays together.
Imagine you and 45 people are expected to count to 20 in your head, but you’re expected to count each number at the same time in your head. There is no way that you guys would all be able to count the same numbers at the same time all together. That’s where a conductor comes in. He is showing the musicians when each count is
I think you mean conductor. A conductor shows where the best falls so that everyone stays together.
Imagine you and 45 people are expected to count to 20 in your head, but you’re expected to count each number at the same time in your head. There is no way that you guys would all be able to count the same numbers at the same time all together. That’s where a conductor comes in. He is showing the musicians when each count is
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