[Transcriber's Note: In this e-book, a macron over a character is
represented with an equal sign, thus: [=e].
The character ´ is used to denote musical octaves, e.g., a´ denotes A
above middle C.]
ESSENTIALS
IN
CONDUCTING
BY
KARL WILSON GEHRKENS, A.M.
PROFESSOR OF SCHOOL MUSIC
OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
AUTHOR OF "MUSIC NOTATION AND TERMINOLOGY"
$1.75
[Illustration]
BOSTON
OLIVER DITSON COMPANY
NEW YORK
CHAS. H. DITSON & CO.
CHICAGO
LYON & HEALY
LONDON
WINTHROP ROGERS, Ltd.
MADE IN U.S.A.
_Copyright MCMXIX_
By OLIVER DITSON COMPANY
_International Copyright Secured_
To the Memory of
ROBERT C. BEDFORD
for many years
SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
of
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I--Introduction 1
CHAPTER II--Personal Traits Necessary in Conducting 8
CHAPTER III--The Technique of the Baton 20
CHAPTER IV--Interpretation in Conducting--_Introductory_ 36
CHAPTER V--Interpretation in Conducting--_Tempo_ 46
CHAPTER VI--Interpretation in Conducting--_Dynamics_ 57
CHAPTER VII--Interpretation in Conducting--_Timbre, Phrasing, etc._ 64
CHAPTER VIII--The Supervisor of Music as Conductor 76
CHAPTER IX--The Community Chorus Conductor 85
CHAPTER X--The Orchestral Conductor 93
CHAPTER XI--Directing the Church Choir 108
CHAPTER XII--The Boy Choir and its Problems 118
CHAPTER XIII--The Conductor as Voice Trainer 131
CHAPTER XIV--The Art of Program Making 140
CHAPTER XV--Conductor and Accompanist 147
CHAPTER XVI--Efficiency in the Rehearsal 152
APPENDIX A--Reference List 164
APPENDIX B--Score of second movement of Haydn's Symphony, No. 3 166
INDEX 181
PREFACE
In putting out this little book, the author is well aware of the fact
that many musicians feel that conductors, like poets and teachers, are
"born and not made"; but his experience in training supervisors of
music has led him to feel that, although only the elementary phases of
_conducting_ can be taught, such instruction is nevertheless quite
worth while, and is often surprisingly effective in its results. He
has also come to believe that even the musical genius may profit by
the experience of others and may thus be enabled to do effective work
as a conductor more quickly than if he relied wholly upon his native
ability.
The book is of course planned especially with the amateur in view, and
the author, in writing it, has had in mind his own fruitless search
for information upon the subject of conducting when he was just
beginning his career as a teacher; and he has tried to say to the
amateur of today those things that he himself so sorely needed to know
at that time, and had to find out by blundering experience.
It should perhaps be stated that although the writer has himself had
considerable experience in conducting, the material here presented is
rather the result of observing and analyzing the work of others than
an account of his own methods. In preparation for his task, the author
has observed many of the better-known conductors in this country, both
in rehearsal and in public performance, during a period of some twelve
years, and the book represents an attempt to put into simple language
and practical form the ideas gathered from this observation. It is
hoped that as a result of reading these pages the amateur may not only
have become more fully informed concerning those practical phases of
conducting about which he has probably been seeking light, but may be
inspired to further reading and additional music study in preparation
for the larger aspects of the work.
The writer wishes to acknowledge the material assistance rendered him
by Professor John Ross Frampton, of the Iowa State Teachers College,
and Professor Osbourne McConathy, of Northwestern University, both of
whom have read the book in manuscript and have given invaluable
suggestions. He wishes also to acknowledge his very large debt to
Professor George Dickinson, of Vassar College, who has read the
material both in manuscript and in proof, and to whose pointed
comments and criticisms many improvements both in material and in
arrangement are due.
K.W.G.
OBERLIN, OHIO
_June, 1918_
_Essentials in Conducting_
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
[Sidenote: DEFINITION]
The word "conducting" as used in a musical sense now ordinarily refers
to the activities of an orchestra or chorus leader who stands before a
group of performers and gives his entire time and effort to directing
their playing or singing, to the end that a musically effective
ensemble performance may result.
This is accomplished by means of certain conventional movements of a
slender stick called a _baton_ (usually held in the right hand), as
well as through such changes of facial expression, bodily posture, _et
cetera_, as will convey to the singers or players the conductor's
wishes concerning the rendition of the music.
Conducting in this sense involves the responsibility of having the
music performed at the correct tempo, with appropriate dynamic
effects, with precise attacks and releases, and in a fitting spirit.
This in turn implies that many details have been worked out in
rehearsal, these including such items as making certain that all
performers sing or play the correct tones in the correct rhythm;
insisting upon accurate pronunciation and skilful enunciation of the
words in vocal music; indicating logical and musical phrasing;
correcting mistakes in breathing or bowing; and, in general,
stimulating orchestra or chorus to produce a tasteful rendition of
the music as well as an absolutely perfect _ensemble_ with all parts
in correct proportion and perfect balance.
In order to have his directing at the public performance function
properly, it thus becomes the conductor's task to plan and to
administer the rehearsals in such a way that the performers may become
thoroughly familiar with the music, both in technique and in spirit.
In other words, the conductor must play the part of musical manager as
well as that of artistic inspirer, and if he does not perform his task
in such fashion as to be looked up to by the members of his chorus or
orchestra as the real leader, and if he himself does not feel
confident of being able to do his work better than any one else upon
the ground, he cannot possibly be successful in any very high degree.
A conductor must first of all be a strong leader, and failing in this,
no amount of musical ability or anything else will enable him to
conduct well. We shall have more to say upon this point in a later
chapter.
[Sidenote: SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF CONDUCTING]
Conducting of one kind or another has undoubtedly been practised for
many centuries, but directing by gestures of the hand has not been
traced farther back than the fourteenth century, at which time
Heinrich von Meissen, a Minnesinger, is represented in an old
manuscript directing a group of musicians with stick in hand. In the
fifteenth century the leader of the Sistine Choir at Rome directed the
singers with a roll of paper (called a "sol-fa"), held in his hand. By
the latter part of the seventeenth century it had become customary for
the conductor to sit at the harpsichord or organ, filling in the
harmonies from a "figured bass," and giving any needed signals with
one hand or the head as best he could. Conducting during this period
signified merely keeping the performers together; that is, the chief
function of the conductor was that of "time beater." With the advent
of the conductor in the rôle of interpreter, such directing became
obsolete, and from the early nineteenth century, and particularly as
the result of the impetus given the art by the conducting of
Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner, the conductor has become an
exceedingly important functionary, in these modern days even ranking
with the _prima donna_ in operatic performances! It is now the
conductor's aim not merely to see that a composition is played
correctly and with good ensemble; more than that, the leader of today
gives his own version or _reading_ of the composition just as the
pianist or violinist does. Instead of being a mere "time beater" he
has become an interpreter, and (except in the case of the
organist-director of a choir) he attempts to do nothing except so to
manipulate his musical forces as to secure an effective performance.
[Sidenote: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF CONDUCTING]
The conductor works largely through the instrumentality of
_instinctive imitation_; that is, his methods are founded upon the
fact that human beings have an innate tendency to copy the actions of
others, often without being conscious that they are doing so. Thus, if
one person yawns or coughs, a second person observing him has an
instinctive tendency to do likewise. One member of a group is radiant
with happiness, and very soon the others catch the infection and are
smiling also; a singer at a public performance strains to get a high
tone, and instinctively our faces pucker up and our throat muscles
become tense, in sympathetic but entirely unconscious imitation. In
very much the same way in conducting, the leader sets the tempo,--and
is imitated by the musicians under him; he feels a certain emotional
thrill in response to the composer's message,--and arouses a similar
thrill in the performers; lifts his shoulders as though taking
breath,--and causes the singers to phrase properly, often without
either the conductor or the singers being aware of how the direction
was conveyed. It is at least partly because we instinctively imitate
the mental state or the emotional attitude of the pianist or the
vocalist that we are capable of being thrilled or calmed by musical
performances, and it is largely for this reason that an audience
always insists upon _seeing_ the artist as well as hearing him. In the
same way the musicians in a chorus or orchestra must see the conductor
and catch from him by instinctive imitation his attitude toward the
music being performed. This point will be more fully discussed in a
later chapter, when we take up interpretation in conducting.
[Sidenote: CONDUCTING A COMBINATION OF SCIENCE AND ART]
In setting out to become a conductor it will be well for the young
musician to recognize at the outset that by far the larger part of the
conductor's work rests upon an art basis, and that only a
comparatively small portion of it is science; hence he must not expect
to find complete information concerning his future work in any
treatise upon the subject. It is one thing to state that there are
three primary colors, or that orange is the result of mixing red and
yellow, but it is a very different matter to give directions for
painting an effective landscape, or a true-to-life portrait. One thing
involves _science_ only, but the other is concerned primarily with
_art_, and it is always dangerous to dogmatize concerning matters
artistic. To carry the illustration one step farther, we may say that
it is comparatively easy to teach a pupil to strike certain piano keys
in such a way as to produce the correct melody, harmony, and rhythm of
a certain composition; but who would venture, even in these days of
frenzied advertising, to promise that in so many lessons he could
teach a pupil to play it as a Hofmann or a Paderewski would? Here
again we see clearly the contrast between science and art, matters of
science being always susceptible of organization into a body of
principles and laws _which will work in every case_, while art is
intangible, subtle, and ever-varying.
The application of our illustration to conducting should now be clear.
We may teach a beginner how to wield a baton according to conventional
practice, how to secure firm attacks and prompt releases, and possibly
a few other definitely established facts about conducting; but unless
our would-be leader has musical feeling within him and musicianship
back of him, it will be utterly futile for him to peruse these pages
further, or to make any other kind of an attempt to learn to conduct;
for, as stated above, only a very small part of conducting can be
codified into rules, directions, and formulæ, by far the larger part
of our task being based upon each individual's own innate musical
feeling, and upon the general musical training that he has undergone.
All this may be discouraging, but on the other hand, granting a fair
degree of native musical ability, coupled with a large amount of solid
music study, any one possessing a sense of leadership can, after a
reasonable amount of intelligent practice, learn to handle a chorus or
even an orchestra in a fairly satisfactory manner. It is our purpose
in general to treat the scientific rather than the artistic side of
conducting, and we are taking for granted, therefore, that the reader
is endowed with musical feeling at least in a fair degree, and has
acquired the rudiments of musical scholarship as the result of an
extensive study of piano, organ, singing, ear-training, music history,
harmony, _et cetera_, and especially by attentive listening to a very
large amount of good music with score in hand. As a result of
combining such musical ability with a careful reading of these pages
and with a large amount of practice in actually wielding the baton, it
is hoped that the beginner will arrive at his goal somewhat earlier
than he would if he depended entirely upon what the psychologist calls
the "trial-and-error" method of learning.
[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF MUSICAL SCHOLARSHIP]
The musical amateur who is ambitious to conduct should therefore study
music in all its phases, and if in doubt as to his talent, he should
submit to a vocational test in order to determine whether his native
musical endowment is sufficient to make it worth his while to study
the art seriously. If the result of the test is encouraging, showing a
good ear, a strong rhythmic reaction, and a considerable amount of
what might be termed native musical taste, let him practise his piano
energetically and intelligently, and especially let him learn to read
three and four voices on separate staffs (as in a vocal score) in
order to prepare himself for future reading of full scores. Let him
study harmony, counterpoint, form, and, if possible, composition and
orchestration. Let him work indefatigably at ear-training, and
particularly at harmonic ear training, so that notes and tones may
become closely associated in his mind, the printed page then giving
him auditory rather than merely visual imagery; in other words, let
him school himself to make the printed page convey to his mind the
actual sounds of the music. Let him study the history of music, not
only as a record of the work of individual composers, but as an
account of what has transpired in the various periods or epochs of
musical art, so that he may become intelligent concerning the ideals,
the styles, and the forms of these various periods. And finally, let
him hear all the good music he possibly can, listening to it from the
threefold standpoint of sense, emotion, and intellect, and noting
particularly those matters connected with expression and
interpretation in these renditions. In as many cases as possible let
him study the scores of the compositions beforehand, comparing then
his own ideas of interpretation with those of the performer or
conductor, and formulating reasons for any differences of opinion that
may become manifest.
Let the young musician also form the habit of reading widely, not
only along all musical lines (history, biography, theory, esthetics,
_et cetera_), but upon a wide variety of topics, such as painting and
the other arts, history, literature, sociology, pedagogy, _et cetera_.
As the result of such study and such reading, a type of musical
scholarship will be attained which will give the conductor an
authority in his interpretations and criticisms that cannot possibly
be achieved in any other way. Let us hasten to admit at once that the
acquiring of this sort of scholarship will take a long time, and that
it cannot all be done before beginning to conduct. But in the course
of several years of broad and intelligent study a beginning at least
can be made, and later on, as the result of continuous growth while at
work, a fine, solid, comprehensive scholarship may finally eventuate.