Forums → The Tavern → Musicians or the Conductor?
| 15 | 1710 |
As you know, at the end of the performance the conductor bows and bows like he did all the work, but I've been watching many performances, and the musicians don't actually pay any real attention to him O_o
What do you think? Should the musicians stand up instead? Or should the conductor keep taking the praise?
(And don't say "the conductor composed it" cause most of the time the music is of a previous (and dead) composer)
- 15 Replies
Its like the relationship between the driver and a racecar. The racecar does all the work, but the driver gets the credit. Why? Because without the driver, the racecar is useless.
The Conductor directs the group of muscians so that they may play each of their pieces in time, and contribute positively to the whole symphony. Without the Conductor, you're left with a bunch of guys in a room holding very fancy pieces of firewood.
I like your description. How ever, would it be that hard for the conductor to gesture towards the musicians to stand up? I mean, without the music, it's a man waving a pointy stick. A racecar driver can still run.
Thanks. You have to realize though, that if the success of the symphony is dependent largely on the Conductor. If the peice stinks, than the Conductor gets the crap. So its generally safer to be a muscician, if you know what I mean.
Without the Conductor, you're left with a bunch of guys in a room holding very fancy pieces of firewood.
Not necessarily. Musicians can be taught to play without a conductor. My sister had a concert where a member of the audience was selected to conduct, but the group was instructed not to pay attention to that person's movement at all and to just play as rehearsed in case the person had no idea what they were doing, which they didn't.
I think the musicians and the conductor should get credit. I'm a member of my school's marching and concert band. By the time we get to a performance, whether it be a concert or halftime show, we rarely have to look at the director. Maybe just for the cut offs at the end of long notes. But who do you think got the band there? The conductor. They are the ones who teach us how to better play a song, and help us bring it all together. So without the conductor, not only do you have a bunch of people holding very fancy pieces of firewood, [or brass], none of the musicians can play all together. So instead of having a single band, you have 90 instrumentalists. (That is the number in my band, obviously each one is different.)
Both should get the same credit.The musicians play the music and the conductor practices with the players.
Cjhall, thank you for the explanation because i always kind of wondered exactly what the conductor did !
As you know, at the end of the performance the conductor bows and bows like he did all the work, but I've been watching many performances, and the musicians don't actually pay any real attention to him O_o
What do you think? Should the musicians stand up instead? Or should the conductor keep taking the praise?
(And don't say "the conductor composed it" cause most of the time the music is of a previous (and dead) composer)
thing is, i dont think you can judge. we all know the parts both the cunductor and the musician has but unless we have any musical (and performance) knowledge and experience you dont really know how important the conductor really is.
think about playing quitely. the musicians cant think and signal the other musicians what should be done. all they can do is play like in the rehersals like machines. the conductur can bring them all together. tell every individual if its ok to play quiet our loudly and many other things.
any way, i myself have no knowledge or experience but i think that a conductor can give a more human emotional touch to the music.
It sounds like you have only seen stuck up conductors. Or I have a lousy memory, it could be both, but most performances I have seen ends with the conductor bowing, and then gesturing to the orchestra. Obviously they cannot stand up and bow, since many of them are holding instruments of a considerable size.
But, you know what? Bowing is a sign of servitude. The orchestra can't go do that for the instruments, and they probably would have a hard time coming to the front of the stage as well for the same reason, which is why the conductor is bowing for them. It is not the conductor taking the praise, because, as said, if the driver isn't there, the racecar is useless, but the driver is kinda useless in a race if his racecar isn't there either. But the racecar can't come up on the stage and bow and spray champagne all over the place, so the driver does that for them.
Not to mention, usually, when you have famous conductors, they will be the known face that you can praise, while the orchestra might just be that, an orchestra, even if they are awesome sounding, just like it's the race driver that stands up front when he wins, and not the team that build the car (though they might be around, and I have no idea if that is correct because I don't watch motor sport).
Either way, the times I have been part of an orchestra, even if the conductor was the one to bow to the audience, the rest of us knew that the praise were for us too. Or perhaps especially, since most common people don't know the delicate work of a conductor, and just considers him, well, a man waving a stick at the people they have come to listen to.
Cjhall, thank you for the explanation because i always kind of wondered exactly what the conductor did !
Your welcome! A lot of people might not. It seems, at least in my school district, that the administration thinks music isn't important anymore, but we have 90 band kids and 90 choir kids to say that music changed their lives
As someone above has said, even if the musicians have the peice memorized, sometimes they still need cues. The way the conductor "waves the stick" tells us how loud and fast to play, and when we are supposed to start and stop playing. Most musicians have their music stands positioned so that they can easily look from the music to the conductor. The audience probably doesn't see this because we only have to move our eyes. we only have to look for a second or two to get what the conductor is trying to tell us.
being a musician myself, i find our teacher pretty much useless during the concert. for practicing, she kinda helps, but its that hard to wave your arms around like a crazy person. sometimes she gets really made tells use to play without conducting and we do better a lot of the time. basically, the only really useful part of our conductor after we have learned the piece is telling us when to start and stop.
The racecar does all the work, but the driver gets the credit.
Are you sure that is the best example you can come up with? The car does in a way, do all the work... But without the driver, the car would be completely useless. Also, it is the drivers expert skills that can make the car perform at its finest and go the fastest... The driver deserves the credit in that aspect.
Its like the relationship between the driver and a racecar. The racecar does all the work, but the driver gets the credit. Why? Because without the driver, the racecar is useless.
That's not always true. I performed at a townwide band concert yesterday, and while performing George Gershwin's "Summertime," my Jazz Ensemble director/conductor just gave us the downbeat and walked offstage. We stayed at the same tempo throughout the song.
being a musician myself, i find our teacher pretty much useless during the concert. for practicing, she kinda helps, but its that hard to wave your arms around like a crazy person. sometimes she gets really made tells use to play without conducting and we do better a lot of the time. basically, the only really useful part of our conductor after we have learned the piece is telling us when to start and stop.
See that's what i kind of imagined - a conductor being helpful on when to start and stop.
To those of yous in a band/orchestra or whatever... have yous ever been told what the waving the whole way through actually means? Like, if it's for different sections to start and stop, is that made clear?
have yous ever been told what the waving the whole way through actually means? Like, if it's for different sections to start and stop, is that made clear?
There is actually a lot of meaning behind all the waving. When you look at a piece of music, each section is divided into measures. In a lot of music, it is in 4/4 time, which means there are 4 beats to a measure, and a certain note gets one beat. The way the conductor is moving the stick tells the musicians what beat of the measure you are on.
The conductor will also conduct (wave the stick) with one hand, while pointing to different groups of instrumentalists to tell them when to cut off, start, or play a different volume, since the whole band does not always play the same thing.
You must be logged in to post a reply!