tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-5784335045057872572007-04-03T22:20:00.000+01:002007-04-03T22:20:00.000+01:002007-04-03T22:20:00.000+01:00Thanks, John, for locating the fascinating long excerpt from Peter Paul Fuchs's 'The Psychology of Conducting'!<BR/><BR/>Here are three shorter excerpts from Fuchs's 'The Psychology of Conducting'(from a fairly recent University of Maryland academic dissertation).<BR/><BR/>And also an interesting 1969 advertising blurb for the Peter Paul Fuch's The Psychology of Conducting, as published as an end-piece in the Oxford Journal of Music.<BR/><BR/>“How significant this spark should be will largely depend on the<BR/>conductor’s personality. One conductor will give everything he has to give<BR/>during the rehearsal. He will prepare his concert down to the smallest<BR/>expressive detail, including the fullest extent of all the emotional peaks, so<BR/>that the concert will essentially be an exact repetition of the dress<BR/>rehearsal. Another will rehearse the orchestra most meticulously, but will<BR/>quite purposely limit the giving of emotional resources, in order to have an<BR/>element of surprise left in the performance.”<BR/><BR/>“The conductor should focus on the orchestra and not the audience. Now<BR/>the conductor’s task is to keep things technically well under control, to<BR/>indicate the correct tempi and tempo changes, to maintain the proper<BR/>balance by making adjustment where they are needed, to give the<BR/>necessary cues, and most of all, to furnish the inspiration through gestures<BR/>and expressions that will draw the best efforts from the musicians”.<BR/><BR/>‘The conductor needs to know when he should let the performers have a sense<BR/>of security from him, but sometimes he needs to figure out the psychological problem<BR/>of the performers, then solve it. For example, at the beginning of the Magnificat, the<BR/>conductor needs to give a very clear preparation in order to lead the singers’<BR/>breathing. If the gesture of preparation is not clear enough, each singer will interpret<BR/>it differently and then breathe at a different moment.’<BR/><BR/>*<BR/><BR/>THE PSYCHOLOGY<BR/>OF CONDUCTING<BR/>by Peter Paul Fuchs<BR/>Explores the relationship between<BR/>the conductor and all<BR/>facets of his profession (instrumentalists,<BR/>soloists, audience,<BR/>etc.). Features interviews and<BR/>special viewpoints of 10 top<BR/>conductors, including Leonard<BR/>Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy,<BR/>Erich Leinsdorf, William Steinberg<BR/>and Max Rudolf.<BR/>Not only for the conductor and<BR/>the music student but for all<BR/>musicians, as well as the layman.<BR/><BR/><BR/>http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/issue_pdf/backmatter_pdf/LV/4.pdf<BR/>[near end.]Garth Trinklhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11084463787729969177noreply@blogger.com