CHAPTER VIII
“The Point of the Baton”
A collection of significant paragraphs by various authorities on the Art of Conducting.
“Rhythm. What is rhythm? We all know that music moves in beats or pulses, and at regular intervals—say, at every two, three, or four beats—some of these are stressed or accented. It is these accents which produce rhythm; therefore rhythm may be defined as a pattern of accents, or a phrase of pulses made characteristic by the effect of its contrasted strong and weak accents. Rhythms may be observed even in statuary and architecture. Rhythms may be regular, as when they follow the time-signatures; and irregular, as when many syncopations are introduced.”
“One of the distinguishing features of modern choral technique is what I term ‘characterization,’ or realism, of the sentiment expressed in the music.... Contrasts of tone-color, contrasts of differently placed choirs, contrasts of sentiment—love, hate, hope, despair, joy, sorrow, brightness, gloom, pity, scorn, prayer, praise, exaltation, depression, laughter, tears—in fact all the emotions and passions are now expected to be delineated by the voice alone. It may be said, in passing, that in fulfilling these expectations choral singing has entered on a new lease of life. Instead of the cry being raised that the choral societies are doomed, we shall find that by absorbing the elixir of characterization they have renewed their youth; and when the shallow pleasures of the picture theatre and the empty elements of the variety show have been discovered to be unsatisfying to the normal aspirations of intellectual, moral beings, the social, healthful, stimulating, intellectual, moral and spiritual uplift of the choral society will be appreciated more than ever.”
“The first thing a conductor requires is self-reliance, born of mastery of the subject he has to conduct and confidence in himself. If he is nervous and apologetic, if, when he makes a slip, he feels crushed and would like to sink through the floor, he had better leave conducting alone. It is the confident, not-to-be-daunted man who is fit to be a leader of men.”
“The conductor must take every precaution to make the rehearsals interesting. The test of a society’s success is the popularity of the rehearsals, and the test of the rehearsals is the feeling that if one be not attended something in the way of enlightenment or pleasure has been missed.”