Conducting |

Conducting (from German dirigieren, French diriger – to direct, manage, manage; English conducting) is one of the most complex types of musical performing arts; management of a group of musicians (orchestra, choir, ensemble, opera or ballet troupe, etc.) in the process of learning and public performance of music by them. works. Conducted by the conductor. The conductor provides ensemble harmony and technical. perfection of performance, and also strives to convey his arts to the musicians led by him. intentions, to reveal in the process of execution their interpretation of creativity. the composer’s intention, his understanding of the content and stylistic. features of this product. The conductor’s performance plan is based on a thorough study and the most accurate, careful reproduction of the text of the author’s score.

Although the conductor’s art in modern. his understanding of how they are independent. type of music performance, developed relatively recently (2nd quarter of the 19th century), its origins can be traced from ancient times. Even on the Egyptian and Assyrian bas-reliefs there are images of the joint performance of music, mainly. on the same music. instruments, several musicians under the direction of a man with a rod in his hand. In the early stages of the development of folk choral practice, dance was carried out by one of the singers – the leader. He established the structure and harmony of the motive (“kept the tone”), indicated the tempo and dynamic. shades. Sometimes he counted the beat by clapping his hands or tapping his foot. Similar methods of metric organizations jointly. performances (stomping feet, clapping hands, playing percussion instruments) survived into the 20th century. in some ethnographic groups. In antiquity (in Egypt, Greece), and then in cf. century, the management of the choir (church) with the help of cheironomy (from the Greek xeir – hand, nomos – law, rule) was widespread. This type of dance was based on a system of conditional (symbolic) movements of the conductor’s hands and fingers, which were supported by the corresponding. head and body movements. Using them, the conductor indicated the tempo, meter, rhythm to the choristers, visually reproduced the contours of the given melody (its movement up or down). The conductor’s gestures also indicated the shades of expression and, with their plasticity, had to correspond to the general character of the music being performed. The complication of polyphony, the appearance of the mensural system and the development of ork. games made more and more necessary a clear rhythm. ensemble organization. Along with cheironomy, a new method of D. is taking shape with the help of “battuta” (stick; from Italian battere – to beat, hit, see Battuta 2), which literally consisted in “beating the beat”, quite often quite loud (“noisy conducting”) . One of the first reliable indications of the use of the trampoline is, apparently, art. church image. ensemble, relating to 1432. “Noisy conducting” was used before. In Dr. In Greece, the leader of the choir, when performing tragedies, marked the rhythm with the sound of his foot, using shoes with iron soles for this.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, with the advent of the general bass system, drumming was carried out by a musician who played the part of the general bass on the harpsichord or organ. The conductor determined the tempo by a series of chords, emphasizing the rhythm with accents or figurations. Some conductors of this type (for example, J. S. Bach), in addition to playing the organ or harpsichord, made instructions with their eyes, head, finger, sometimes singing a melody or tapping the rhythm with their feet. Along with this method of D., the method of D. with the help of a battuta continued to exist. Until 1687, J. B. Lully used a large, massive reed cane, with which he pounded on the floor, and W. A. ​​Weber resorted to “noisy conducting” as early as the beginning of the 19th century, striking the score with a leather tube stuffed with wool. Since the performance of the bass general significantly limited the possibility of direct. the influence of the conductor on the team, from the 18th century. the first violinist (accompanist) is becoming increasingly important. He helped the conductor manage the ensemble with his violin playing, and at times stopped playing and used the bow as a stick (battutu). This practice led to the emergence of the so-called. double conducting: in the opera, the harpsichordist conducted the singers, and the accompanist controlled the orchestra. To these two leaders, a third was sometimes added – the first cellist, who sat next to the harpsichord conductor and played the bass voice in operatic recitatives according to his notes, or the choirmaster who controlled the choir. When performing large wok.-instr. compositions, the number of conductors in some cases reached five.

From the 2nd floor. In the 18th century, as the general bass system withered away, the conducting violinist-accompanist gradually became the sole leader of the ensemble (for example, K. Dittersdorf, J. Haydn, F. Habenek conducted this way). This method of D. was preserved for quite a long time and in the 19th century. in ballroom and garden orchestras, in small dances. folk orchestras character. The orchestra was very popular all over the world, led by the conductor-violinist, author of famous waltzes and operettas I. Strauss (son). A similar method of D. is sometimes used in the performance of music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Further development of symphony. music, the growth of its dynamic. diversity, expansion and complication of the composition of the orchestra, the desire for greater expressiveness and brilliance ork. the games insistently demanded that the conductor be released from participation in the general ensemble so that he could concentrate all his attention on directing the rest of the musicians. The violinist-accompanist less and less resorts to playing his instrument. Thus, the appearance of D. in his modern. understanding was prepared – it only remained to replace the concertmaster’s bow with a conductor’s baton.

Among the first conductors who introduced the conductor’s baton into practice were I. Mosel (1812, Vienna), K. M. Weber (1817, Dresden), L. Spohr (1817, Frankfurt am Main, 1819, London), as well as G. Spontini (1820, Berlin), who held it not by the end, but in the middle, like some conductors who used a roll of music for D..

The first major conductors who performed in different cities with “foreign” orchestras were G. Berlioz and F. Mendelssohn. One of the founders of modern D. (along with L. Beethoven and G. Berlioz) should be considered R. Wagner. Following the example of Wagner, the conductor, who had previously stood at his console facing the audience, turned his back to her, which ensured a more complete creative contact between the conductor and the musicians of the orchestra. A prominent place among the conductors of that time belongs to F. Liszt. By the 40s of the 19th century. the new method of D. is finally approved. Somewhat later, the modern a type of conductor-performer who is not engaged in composing activities. The first conductor-performer, who won international performances with his touring performances. recognition, was H. von Bülow. Leading position at the end of 19 – early. 20th century occupied him. conducting school, to which some outstanding Hungarian conductors also belonged. and Austrian nationality. These are conductors who were part of the so-called. the post-Wagner five – X. Richter, F. Motl, G. Mahler, A. Nikish, F. Weingartner, as well as K. Muck, R. Strauss. In France, it means the most. E. Colonne and C. Lamoureux were representatives of the suit of D. of this time. Among the greatest conductors of the first half of the 20th century. and the following decades – B. Walter, W. Furtwangler, O. Klemperer, O. Fried, L. Blech (Germany), A. Toscanini, V. Ferrero (Italy), P. Monteux, S. Munsch, A. Kluytens ( France), A. Zemlinsky, F. Shtidri, E. Kleiber, G. Karajan (Austria), T. Beecham, A. Boult, G. Wood, A. Coates (England), V. Berdyaev, G. Fitelberg (Poland ), V. Mengelberg (Netherlands), L. Bernstein, J. Sell, L. Stokowski, Y. Ormandy, L. Mazel (USA), E. Ansermet (Switzerland), D. Mitropoulos (Greece), V, Talich ( Czechoslovakia), J. Ferenchik (Hungary), J. Georgescu, J. Enescu (Romania), L. Matachich (Yugoslavia).

in Russia until the 18th century. D. was associated preim. with choir. execution. The correspondence of a whole note to two movements of the hand, a half note to one movement, etc., i.e., certain methods of conducting, are already spoken of in N. P. Diletsky’s Musician Grammar (2nd half of the 17th century). The first Russian orc. the conductors were musicians from serfs. Among them should be named S. A. Degtyarev, who led the Sheremetev fortress orchestra. The most famous conductors of the 18th century. – violinists and composers I. E. Khandoshkin and V. A. Pashkevich. At an early stage of development, Russian The activities of K. A. Kavos, K. F. Albrecht (Petersburg), and I. I. Iogannis (Moscow) played an important role in operatic drama. He conducted the orchestra and in 1837-39 directed the Court Choir of M. I. Glinka. The largest Russian conductors in modern understanding of the art of D. (2nd half of the 19th century), one should consider M. A. Balakirev, A. G. Rubinshtein and N. G. Rubinshtein – the first Russian. conductor-performer, who was not at the same time a composer. The composers N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. I. Tchaikovsky, and a little later A. K. Glazunov systematically acted as conductors. Means. place in Russian history. the conductor’s claim belongs to E. F. Napravnik. Outstanding conductors of subsequent generations of Russian. Among the musicians were V. I. Safonov, S. V. Rakhmaninov, and S. A. Koussevitzky (beginning of the 20th century). In the first post-revolutionary years, the flowering of the activities of N. S. Golovanov, A. M. Pazovsky, I. V. Pribik, S. A. Samosud, V. I. Suk. In the pre-revolutionary years in Petersburg. the conservatory was famous for the conducting class (for students of composition), which was led by N. N. Cherepnin. The first leaders of independent, not associated with the composer department, conducting classes, created after the Great October. socialist. revolutions in the Moscow and Leningrad conservatories were K. S. Saradzhev (Moscow), E. A. Cooper, N. A. Malko and A. V. Gauk (Leningrad). In 1938, the first All-Union Conducting Competition was held in Moscow, which revealed a number of talented conductors – representatives of the young owls. schools of D. The winners of the competition were E. A. Mravinsky, N. G. Rakhlin, A. Sh. Melik-Pashaev, K. K. Ivanov, M. I. Paverman. With a further rise in music. culture in the national republics of the Soviet Union among the leading owls. conductors included representatives of dec. nationalities; conductors N. P. Anosov, M. Ashrafi, L. E. Wigner, L. M. Ginzburg, E. M. Grikurov, O. A. Dimitriadi, V. A. Dranishnikov, V. B. Dudarova, K. P. Kondrashin, R. V. Matsov, E. S. Mikeladze, I. A. Musin, V. V. Nebolsin, N. Z. Niyazi, A. I. Orlov, N. S. Rabinovich, G. N. Rozhdestvensky, EP Svetlanov, K. A. Simeonov, M. A. Tavrizian, V. S. Tolba, E. O. Tons, Yu. F. Fayer, B. E. Khaykin, L P. Steinberg, A. K. Jansons.

The 2nd and 3rd All-Union Conducting Competitions nominated a group of gifted conductors of the younger generation. The laureates are: Yu. Kh. Temirkanov, D. Yu. Tyulin, F. Sh. Mansurov, A. S. Dmitriev, M. D. Shostakovich, Yu. I. Simonov (1966), A. N. Lazarev, V. G. Nelson (1971).

In the field of choral D., the traditions of outstanding masters who came out of the pre-revolutionary era. choir. schools, A. D. Kastalsky, P. G. Chesnokov, A. V. Nikolsky, M. G. Klimov, N. M. Danilin, A. V. Aleksandrov, A. V. Sveshnikov successfully continued pupils of owls. Conservatory G. A. Dmitrievsky, K. B. Ptitsa, V. G. Sokolov, A. A. Yurlov and others. In D., as in any other form of music. performance, reflect the level of development of muses. art-va and aesthetic. principles of this era, societies. environments, schools, and the individual. traits of the conductor’s talent, his culture, taste, will, intellect, temperament, etc. Modern. D. requires from the conductor broad knowledge in the field of music. literature, founded. music-theoretical. training, high music. giftedness – a subtle, specially trained ear, good music. memory, sense of form, rhythm, as well as concentrated attention. A necessary condition is that the conductor has an active purposeful will. The conductor must be a sensitive psychologist, have the gift of a teacher-educator and certain organizational skills; these qualities are especially necessary for conductors who are permanent (for a long time) leaders of the Ph.D. music team.

When performing production the conductor usually uses the score. However, many modern concert conductors conduct by heart, without a score or console. Others, agreeing that the conductor should recite the score by heart, believe that the conductor’s defiant refusal of the console and the score is in the nature of unnecessary sensationalism and diverts the attention of listeners from the piece being performed. An opera conductor must be knowledgeable about wok matters. technology, as well as to possess a dramaturgy. flair, the ability to direct the development of all muses in the process of D. scenic action as a whole, without which his true co-creation with the director is impossible. A special type of D. is the accompaniment of a soloist (for example, a pianist, violinist or cellist during a concerto with an orchestra). In this case, the conductor coordinates his art. intentions with perform. intention of this artist.

The art of D. is based on a special, specially designed system of hand movement. The face of the conductor, his gaze, and facial expressions also play a huge role in the process of casting. The most important point in the suit-ve D. is preliminary. wave (German Auftakt) – a kind of “breathing”, in essence and causing, as a response, the sound of the orchestra, choir. Means. a place in the D. technique is given to timing, i.e., designation with the help of waved hands metrorhythmic. music structures. Timing is the basis (canvas) of art. D.

More complex timing schemes are based on the modification and combination of movements that make up the simplest schemes. The diagrams show the movements of the conductor’s right hand. The downbeats of the measure in all schemes are indicated by the movement from top to bottom. The last shares – to the center and up. The second beat in the 3-beat scheme is indicated by movement to the right (away from the conductor), in the 4-beat scheme – to the left. The movements of the left hand are built as a mirror image of the movements of the right hand. In D.’s practice it lasts. the use of such a symmetrical movement of both hands is undesirable. On the contrary, the ability to use both hands independently of each other is extremely important, since it is customary in D.’s technique to separate the functions of the hands. The right hand is intended preim. for timing, the left hand gives instructions in the field of dynamics, expressiveness, phrasing. In practice, however, the functions of the hands are never strictly demarcated. The higher the skill of the conductor, the more often and more difficult is the free interpenetration and interweaving of the functions of both hands in his movements. The movements of major conductors are never straightforwardly graphic: they seem to “free themselves from the scheme”, but at the same time they always carry the most essential elements of it for perception.

The conductor must be able to unite the individualities of individual musicians in the process of performance, directing all their efforts towards the realization of their performing plan. According to the nature of the impact on the group of performers, conductors can be divided into two types. The first of these is the “conductor-dictator”; he unconditionally subordinates the musicians to his will, own. individuality, sometimes arbitrarily suppressing their initiative. A conductor of the opposite type never seeks to ensure that the musicians of the orchestra blindly obey him, but tries to bring his performer to the fore. plan to the consciousness of each performer, to captivate him with his reading of the author’s intention. Most conductors in dec. degree combines features of both types.

The D. method without a stick also became widespread (first introduced into practice by Safonov in the early 20th century). It provides greater freedom and expressiveness of the movements of the right hand, but, on the other hand, deprives them of lightness and rhythm. clarity.

In the 1920s in some countries, attempts were made to create orchestras without conductors. A permanent performing group without a conductor existed in Moscow in 1922-32 (see Persimfans).

From the beginning 1950s in a number of countries began to be held international. conductor competitions. Among their laureates: K. Abbado, Z. Meta, S. Ozawa, S. Skrovachevsky. Since 1968 in the international competitions involved owls. conductors. The titles of laureates were won by: Yu.I. Simonov, A.M. , 1968).

References: Glinsky M., Essays on the history of conducting art, “Musical Contemporary”, 1916, book. 3; Timofeev Yu., A guide for a beginner conductor, M., 1933, 1935, Bagrinovsky M., Conducting hand technique, M., 1947, Bird K., Essays on the technique of conducting a choir, M.-L., 1948; Performing Arts of Foreign Countries, vol. 1 (Bruno Walter), M., 1962, no. 2 (W. Furtwangler), 1966, no. 3 (Otto Klemperer), 1967, no. 4 (Bruno Walter), 1969, no. 5 (I. Markevich), 1970, issue. 6 (A. Toscanini), 1971; Kanerstein M., Questions of conducting, M., 1965; Pazovsky A., Notes of a conductor, M., 1966; Mysin I., Conducting technique, L., 1967; Kondrashin K., On the art of conducting, L.-M., 1970; Ivanov-Radkevich A., On the education of a conductor, M., 1973; Berlioz H., Le chef d’orchestre, théorie de son art, R., 1856 (Russian translation – Conductor of the orchestra, M., 1912); Wagner R., Lber das Dirigieren, Lpz., 1870 (Russian translation – On Conducting, St. Petersburg, 1900); Weingartner F., Lber das Dirigieren, V., 1896 (Russian translation – About conducting, L., 1927); Schünemann G, Geschichte des Dirigierens, Lpz., 1913, Wiesbaden, 1965; Krebs C., Meister des Taktstocks, B., 1919; Scherchen H., Lehrbuch des Dirigierens, Mainz, 1929; Wood H., About conducting, L., 1945 (Russian translation – About conducting, M., 1958); Ma1ko N., The conductor and his baton, Kbh., 1950 (Russian translation – Fundamentals of conducting technique, M.-L., 1965); Herzfeld Fr., Magie des Taktstocks, B., 1953; Münch Ch., Je suis chef d’orchestre, R., 1954 (Russian translation – I am a conductor, M., 1960), Szendrei A., Dirigierkunde, Lpz., 1956; Bobchevsky V., Izkustvoto on the conductor, S., 1958; Jeremias O., Praktické pokyny k dingováni, Praha, 1959 (Russian translation – Practical advice on conducting, M., 1964); Вult A., Thoughts on conducting, L., 1963.

E. Ya. Ratser