Ardoin, John: The
Furtwangler Record. Amadeus, 1996.
Bamberger, Carl, ed. The
Conductor’s Art. McGraw Hill, 1965.
Barber, Charles. Conversing with Carlos: A Biography of
Carlos Kleiber. Scarecrow Press, 2011.
Barenboim, Daniel and Said, Edward: Parallels and Paradoxes - Explorations in
Music and Society. Pantheon, 2002.
Battisti, Frank. On Becoming a Conductor. Meredith Music
Publications, 2007.
________. The Winds of Change (I and II).
Meredith, 2002, 2011.
Battisti, Frank and Garofalo, Robert: Guide to Score Study for the Wind Band
Conductor. Meredith, 1990.
Bernstein, Leonard: The
Joy of Music. Simon & Schuster,
1959.
_______: The
Unanswered Question-Six Talks at Harvard.
Harvard University Press, 1976.
_____: Young
People's Concerts. Doubleday, 1992.
Billingham, Lisa. The Complete Conductor’s Guide to Laban
Movement Theory. GIA, 2009.
Obviously, I stopped with the Bs, a musical homage. A caveat must appear: I've not read all of these, BUT, I have them at my fingertips when the need (or simply want) arises.
Of late I've cracked open Frank Battisti's On Becoming a Conductor. Battisti, formerly of the New England Conservatory, was among the earliest "master conductors" I had the opportunity to work with. I'll never forget trying to "rehearse" the Egmont Overture and having Frank continually shouting at me to "Look At The Players," especially in the opening sostenuto, during which there is a different woodwind entrance on every beat. I was a young pup who thought he knew everything, especially since I'd actually conducted a performance of the piece with the Olivet College Symphony five years previous. Never would I step in front of an ensemble with that level of hubris or lack of real preparation.
Battisti's book is interesting for many reasons and I'm sure this is only Part 1 of many illuminating sessions with his inspiring text. In discussing the many things a conductor requires, among the first is work ethic. But in that chapter, he chooses to elaborate on sports figures rather than conductors.
An interesting vignette on former Detroit Lion great Barry Sanders illustrates what work ethic is all about:
(Before the final meaningless game of the 1996 season) someone in the media made a last-minute request to interview Barry Sanders....(he could not be found in the locker room). Lions V-P decided to go our to the practice field to see if Sanders was there. It was dark--the field lights had been turned off--but Sanders was there, all by himself, running gassers. When Sanders did not appear as promised 30-minutes later, he (the V-P) heard sounds coming from the weight room so he went in to see if Sanders was there. He was, again all by himself, lifting weights.
Then there is the story of the baseball-playing Michael Jordan, who worked hours every day in vain with his hitting coach. Arguably among the best players to ever grace a basketball court, Jordan couldn't transfer his athleticism to the diamond. It wasn't for a lack of trying. Bob Greene, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote,
The great moments--whether you are an athlete or businessman or an artist--are not the moments that count. The moments that count are the ones when it's just you, and people have stopped believing in you, and the work you put in comes with no guarantee that there will ever be a reward. The work you are putting in may very well be wasted. But there is no waste in that kind of work--that's the secret. Far from being wasted, that is the kind of work, those are the kind of moments, that define a person.
I've learned a lot in this short chapter about what I must continue to do with regard to my own journey, wherever it may lead me. And I think I'll start today by sampling the Beethoven quartets--one a day--with recording and score, and see where that journey will lead my intellect.
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