Essentials in Conducting

Having now reviewed the various essentials in conducting from the standpoint of public performance, we wish emphatically to state our conviction that in many cases both choruses...

Before giving actual directions for the manipulation of the conductor's baton, it may be well to state that the stick itself should be light in weight, light in color, and from...

To these two might be added a third--namely, the problem of becoming familiar with the liturgy of the particular church in which the choir sings, since male choirs are to be fou...

Conducting an orchestra from full score is a vastly more complicated matter than directing a chorus singing four-part music, and the training necessary in order to prepare one f...

Having devoted considerable space to discussing the two expressional elements for which the composer is mainly responsible, let us now present briefly certain matters connected...

In the introductory chapter it was noted that the conductor must build upon a foundation of musical scholarship if he is to be really successful; that he must possess musical fe...

In taking up the special problems of conducting involved in directing a church choir, we shall first of all need to consider the dual nature of church music--its religio-artisti...

Interpretation from the standpoint of the conductor differs from interpretation in singing and playing in that the conductor must necessarily convey ideas or emotions to his aud...

Correct voice placement, the full use of the resonance cavities, good habits of breathing, and other details connected with what is commonly termed _voice culture_, cannot be ta...

In the last chapter we discussed expression and interpretation from a general standpoint, closing with certain comments upon the interpretation of vocal music. But it must be ad...

The phenomenal progress which has been made during recent years in the music departments of both the grades and the high schools of our great public educational systems, togethe...

The recent rise of community music has evoked no little controversy as to whether art can be made "free as air" and its satisfactions thrown open to all, poor as well as rich; o...

In constructing a concert program for either a solo or an ensemble performance, and in the case of both vocal and instrumental music, at least five important points must be take...

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 e...

Another important factor in the expressive rendition of music is _dynamics_, _i.e._, the relative loudness and softness of tone. The composer is supposed to have a fairly large...

In chorus directing, it is of the utmost importance that conductor and accompanist not only understand one another thoroughly, but that the relationship between them be so sympa...

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 experie...