The Modern Conductor

Titles in Dictionaries for the Modern Musician: A Scarecrow Press Music Series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to playing technique, major works to key figures. A must-have for any musician’s personal library! Filling a vital need in the rapidly changing and complex field of conducting, A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor is a concise one-volume reference tool that brings together for the first time information covering a broad array of topics essential for today’s conductor to know. Author and conductor Emily Freeman Brown offers easy-to-read definitions of key musical terms, translated foreign terms, examples of usage from orchestral music and practical vocabulary in multiple languages. A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor includes biographies of major conductors and other individual important to the world of modern conducting, emphasizing throughout their contributions to the progress of the conducting professional; critical information on major orchestras, significant ensembles, key institutions and organizations, with a focus on the ways in which they preserve and advance today’s musical life; and practical entries covering baton and rehearsal techniques, bowing terms, information about instruments, voice types and much more. In a series of appendixes, A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor also covers such topics as orchestral works that changed the art and practice of conducting, a short historiography of conducting, a comprehensive bibliography, a look at conducting recitative, and a list of pitches, interval names, rhythmic terms, orchestral and percussion instrument names, and finally translations of all of these categories of information into French, German, Italian, and Spanish. A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor will appeal to aspiring conductors and seasoned professionals. It is an invaluable resource.

Extensively refined and updated, this new edition on conducting posits that conducting is atime-space art. It builds basic book techniques and includes additional band scores excerpts, placed in proximity with the classic repertoire. The text adds new baton timing techniques, and shows the relationships of time, speed, and motion. Key words and principles are highlighted in boldface or italics. This book states a new principle regarding gesture-speed as related to dynamics and phrasing. Drills to train the mind and hands simultaneously are presented. Complete diagrams, all time-beating patterns, and logical classification of expressive gestures are included. Offers manual-technique photo illustrations and a wealth of music examples that show the application of techniques. Features an extensive appendix that includes seating charts, language tables (scores), less common terms, and an outline of musical form to aid in score study. For musicians.

Extensively refined and updated, this new edition on conducting posits that conducting is atime-space art. It builds basic book techniques and includes additional band scores excerpts, placed in proximity with the classic repertoire. The text adds new baton timing techniques, and shows the relationships of time, speed, and motion. Key words and principles are highlighted in boldface or italics. This book states a new principle regarding gesture-speed as related to dynamics and phrasing. Drills to train the mind and hands simultaneously are presented. Complete diagrams, all time-beating patterns, and logical classification of expressive gestures are included. Offers manual-technique photo illustrations and a wealth of music examples that show the application of techniques. Features an extensive appendix that includes seating charts, language tables (scores), less common terms, and an outline of musical form to aid in score study. For musicians.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Among the major changes that swept through the music industry during the mid-nineteenth century, one that has received little attention is how musical performances were managed and directed. Yet this was arguably the most radical change of all: from a loose control shared between the violin-leader, musical director and maestro al cembalo to a system of tight and unified control under a professional conductor-manager. This process brought with it not only baton conducting in its modern form, but also higher standards of training and discipline, a new orchestral lay-out and a more focused rehearsal regime. The resulting rise in standards of performance was arguably the greatest achievement of English music in the otherwise rather barren mid-Victorian period. The key figure in this process was Michael Costa, who built for himself unprecedented contractual powers and used his awesome personal authority to impose reform on the three main institutions of mid-Victorian music: the opera houses, the Philharmonic and the Sacred Harmonic Society. He was a central figure in the battles between the two rival opera houses, between the Philharmonic and the New Philharmonic, and between the venerable Ancient Concerts and the mass festival events of the Sacred Harmonic Society. Costa’s uniquely powerful position in the operatic, symphonic and choral world and the rapidity with which he was forgotten after his death provide a fascinating insight into the politics and changing aesthetics of the Victorian musical world.

Performance practice is the study of how music was performed over the centuries, both by its originators (the composers and performers who introduced the works) and, later, by revivalists. This first of its kind Dictionary offers entries on composers, musiciansperformers, technical terms, performance centers, musical instruments, and genres, all aimed at elucidating issues in performance practice. This A-Z guide will help students, scholars, and listeners understand how musical works were originally performed and subsequently changed over the centuries. Compiled by a leading scholar in the field, this work will serve as both a point-of-entry for beginners as well as a roadmap for advanced scholarship in the field.

Part history, part explanation of early music, this book also plays devil's advocate, criticizing current practices and urging experimentation. Haynes, a veteran of the movement, describes a vision of the future that involves improvisation, rhetorical expression, and composition.

Conducting and Rehearsing the Instrumental Music Ensemble is the most comprehensive guide on the rehearsal process for conducting instrumental music ensembles. Ideal for the advanced instrumental music conductor seeking to look beyond basic conducting technique, this work breaks the multidimensional activity of working with an ensemble, orchestra, or band into its constituent components. Advanced students of conducting will find within the full range of conducting activities: • Chapters on the infrastructure of the rehearsal, the rehearsal environment, 10 rehearsal essentials, score study, music imagery, inner singing, and rehearsal procedures (with an emphasis on an integrated approach to rehearsing) • The technical priorities of intonation and tuning, rhythm patterns, ensemble sonority (tone, balance, blend, color and texture), and articulation • The musical priorities of tempo and ensemble precision, phrasing and the musical line, style and interpretation, dynamics and musical expression • Emphasizing the expectations of 21st-century conductors, the challenges of conducting and rehearsing contemporary music, preparing conductor profiles and self-evaluations, and moving from the rehearsal process to concert performance Conducting and Rehearsing the Instrumental Music Ensemble is a great resource for teachers and students of conducting, as well as current conductors wishing to further hone their skills.

This book can be used as a guide for professional conductors, school directors, music libraries and reference libraries. The study details where to find recommendations for repertoire to programme for various types of ensembles, and also to aid in programming. It also contains an annotated bibliography which critiques the numerous books available on orchestra repertoire, major music publishers and lists sample programmes from many orchestras around the United States.

The classical music conductor is considered by many to be the perfect representation of the successful, empowering leader. Leading a classical music orchestra demands exceptional leadership qualities and styles. Twenty-first century thought leaders point out to the importance of interdisciplinary learning as key to leading businesses and other professional fields forward. Knowledge and experiences from leaders in other disciplines open new visions as to the art of leadership. Music & Leadership is a novel leadership concept, answering the current business world call for new concepts and frameworks within which to understand leadership of today and tomorrow. Exploring and discovering leadership through the lens of the classical music conductor and orchestra, the objective of this book is to trigger your ability to think creatively and critically appraise your own leadership style and behavioural patterns and how you can implement lessons learned from this book in your working environment. By looking into the work of the music conductor and orchestra, the executive is offered a new way of thinking about business and leadership.