I have been conducting for nearly 40 years and I want to spend a few minutes sharing with you the reality of conducting. I conduct the Bloomingdale Chamber Orchestra and right now we are working on two amazing and very different pieces. The first is the Egmont Overture by Ludwig van Beethoven and the second is Elegy for Orchestra by John Corrigliano.
The music for these two pieces is contained on the printed page—the conductor’s score and every instrumentalist’s part. As I start every new piece with the orchestra, we begin a journey of discovery together. I have conducted the Beethoven at least four times before, with four different orchestras, and four different performances and each time I have discovered new things with the ensemble with which I am working. Having conducted a lot of Beethoven over the years, I have developed some insights into his orchestra writing. For example, Beethoven’s crescendos frequently occur over many measure of music. In the Egmont, there is a passage that begins as follows:
Over a period of eight full measures we go from pianissimo to fortissimo, but the actual crescendo begins on the fourth measure. It is very tempting to start that crescendo earlier and get to the fortissimo too soon. So I alert the players of this pitfall and we work on it in advance.
Notice the first violin part has a quarter note tied to the first of a group of four sixteenths. It is very easy to be late with those 16ths after holding the first note for one and a quarter beats. Then of course those 16ths need to be clearly articulated so that everybody is playing exactly together, else it just sounds sloppy.
Beneath that line, the second violinists and violists are playing very fast sixteenth notes and they have to be perfectly even and coordinated within the sections.
That is just a few measures of music! There are 347 measures in the Egmont alone and 16 different instrumental lines going on at once.
Vytautas Marijosius, my conducting professor, used to call the conductor primus inter pares--first among equals. What I have discovered in my years with all kinds of ensembles is that a conductor is problem solver and orchestra is a group of people who want to make music together. They want to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is the ultimate collaboration built on faith and trust, to create something beautiful that goes beyond our expectations.
I once heard a leader described as someone who convinces you to do what you already knew should be done. That’s my vision of a conductor, a musical sherpa--someone who trusts his or her players and in turn earns their trust. It’s a far cry from the prevailing mythology of conducting. I can’t think of anything more satisfying than revisiting a piece I thought I knew and hearing something totally fresh and new within. No huge ego called for in that kind of transaction—more a large dose of humility!
Lawrence Davis
