Excellent, clear explanations in a well thought out progression. There is much more about nonverbal communication in music that is practical rather than mysterious.
Thank you SO much for sharing this in a clear and understandable way. The techniques of truly conducting/guiding/inspiring a group of musicians to play their best together, and to bring life and meaning to the music are difficult to learn. Thank you for your help and teaching. You are helping not only those who are privileged to watch you here, but the musicians we work with and the audiences who attend our performances. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your kind words and for taking the time to comment, I truly appreciate it. I'm really happy whenever I learn that I've been able to help someone out there :)
From a technical point of view, I'd say the very beginning of the 1st, because of the pizzicato of the strings along with the woodwinds on the downbeat. The introduction of the 2nd symphony and the passage to the Allegro. The 3rd has a few, from the tempo of the 1st movement (half way between 1 and 3) to the tempo of the 2nd movement. Not to mention the overall arch of the symphony. The last movement of the 4th symphony can easily get unclean. The 5th has the pulse-less upbeat at the very beginning, and the accelerando going into the coda of the last movement. The storm from the 6th , the Allegretto from the 7th (mainly for the tempo choice), and the third movement of the 8th which can become excessively heavy. Finally, the beginning of the last movement of the 9th, very challenging both musically and technically
Thank you so much. Extremely useful for a naive listener. I am very interested in how the orchestra member uses the information that they get from the conductor. What do they look for?
Thank you Omar. Musicians look for clear indications of tempo, dynamics, expression. In one word, a direction. All of the above can be conveyed with proper technique. And by proper I mean a technique that allows you to move with a purpose, knowing what exact effect your gesture will have on the orchestra and its sound. What they do not look for is a metronome.
