Essentials in Conducting | Page 3

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