I am slated to complete my doctoral research, which has been dramatically altered, this semester. The original project was intended to be the creation of a critical edition of the fourth symphony of Portuguese composer, Joly Braga Santos. However, events in my personal life as well as the general upheaval in the composer's native land, have proven to make that an impossible task. Thus, I have changed the project into a conductor's guide to the
Variaciones Concertantes of Alberto Ginastera. Much of the "descriptive material" is completed and now I find myself reflecting on the actual process that goes into the study of any score.
These days it seems as though there are as many texts on conducting as there are conductors. Still, a limited number of these are considered to be the "Bibles" of the profession. These include Elizabeth A. H. Green's
The Modern Conductor and
The Grammar of Conducting by Max Rudolf. There are few who would discount the impact that both texts have had on subsequent generations of the wielders of the baton, amateur and professional (or those of us who try to straddle both worlds). Still, while many of these texts are long on technique, most are lacking in more than a cursory presentation of what could be the most important part of the conductor's art: the actual study of the score.
Green, in its seventh incarnation (released in 2004 by Mark Gibson nine years following Ms. Green's death) devotes a great deal of time, effort (and pages) to technical aspects. Part I: "Technique" encompasses fully 140 of the approximately 215 pages of text. Part II, which is entitled "Score Study" actually includes little in the way of significant instruction a comprehensive approach to the score. Chapters include:
- Clefs and Transpositions (maybe I'm a dolt, but aren't those a given?)
- Instrumental Conducting: Orchestra and Band Scores (discusses more the structure of these)
- Choral Conducting (my pet-peeve, as though the approach to a choral score is any different than any other kind of score. My motto Conducting is conducting).
- Applied Musicianship: Orchestra, Band, Chorus (and this mean?)
- Conductor as Collaborator: Concertos and Operas.
- Memorizing the score (I certainly wish that there was little emphasis placed upon this "skill." Some of us have the ability; some of us don't. I conduct certain pieces in my personal repertoire without looking at the score, but it is always there). Of course we have Toscanini to blame for this but his insistence on memorization was born out of necessity: his eyesight was so bad that he couldn't read the score on the podium!
The most profound thoughts on score study in
Green are actually found in the opening essay by the late Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor, Eugene Ormandy, entitled "The Art of Conducting." Herein the author separates the "art" into three parts: personal study, rehearsal and performance. And he approaches these concepts in a concise and cogent two pages. Besides a knowledge of the relationships of the notes on the page, we are reminded to continually understand works within the context of their time (Ormandy uses the
Eroica Symphony as an example. We are told to listen and study objectively, remembering Richard Strauss's dictum, "...You are making music not for your own pleasure but for the joy of your listeners."
An examination of
Rudolf, now in its third edition (1994) notes a completely different text than "my father's"--actually my own--
Grammar of Conducting. Whereas the original was, in the words of the author, more of a "primer," the book is now "a general guide and source of pertinent information." It is now divided into four sections, with a significant amount of material aimed toward study and interpretation.
Part III: "Execution and Performance," focuses on:
- Score Study and the Preparation of Orchestra materials (no delineation of band music here).
- Rehearsal Techniques
- Opera and Choral Works with Orchestra
The entirety of Part IV is devoted to Interpretation and Style and includes:
- Aspects of interpretation
- Choice of Tempo
- Performance Practice
- Aspects of Musical Style
Which is the better? It would seem as though Rudolf has surpassed Mme. Green in the "score study" department, but still, her contributions to our art cannot be discounted.
One thing that I have learned today is that I need to visit the revised Grammar. There is much more there than in the old. I may actually learn something.
