Conducting:A Process to Excellence

June 25, 2015

IL-ACDA Retreat

Richard Bjella

920.427.6929

“Imagination’s hunger is what drives the work.”

(Martin Katz, Professor of Collaborative Piano, University of Michigan)

1. Find the heart

  1. Find the nugget that moves you to wish to teach this score for several weeks. Continue to explore if this has enough to ‘stick to the bones’ (for the students and yourself).
  2. Explore from that point to start to unfold slowly the mystery, the drama, and thegestalt of the work.
  3. Consider one or two aspects of the pieces at one time (i.e. text, melodic contour, harmonic language, rhythmic drive, texture, poet, period, composer’s individual language, etc…)
  4. Listen to as many recording of the piece as possible, then put them away until you have really done your own work.
  5. Play/ sing / stomp / walk / read every line like it really means something – just to get it ‘under your skin’ so you can’t live without it.

“Whenever a score must be learned in a hurry, study it very slowly.”

(Margaret Hillis, late Director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus)

  1. Chart the work
  1. Mark the page (system breaks, all markings on the page)
  2. Number the measures
  3. Note page differences in editions (i.e. if you are using a full score mark the choral pages on the top of the full score)
  4. Study and mark dynamic contrast
  5. Highlight tempo indications, changes in tempo
  6. Understand all terminology on the page
  7. Search out and note sources of references (from what larger work, date of composition, composer dates, etc..)
  8. Mark any surprising entrances, score order issues, extreme special effects.
  9. Clearly delineate meter changes (i.e icons may be helpful)

“I am amazed again and again how the mastery of successive minute technical details releases floods of spiritual understanding.”

(Robert Shaw, late director of the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus)

3. Analyze the score ___9__

  1. Mark the phrasing (i.e. 4 + 5 – phrase length), Single line for a phrase break / double bar for section break. Often best to do at the barline even though many phrases begin or end in the middle of the bar, but it makes an easy point of reference.
  2. Make note of the overall form (rondo, binary, ternary, fugue, etc..) of the piece and mark repeated sections or similar sections (i.e. m. 11 – 21 = 75-85 OR m. 11-21 ~ 75-85)
  3. Put into the score important or unusual harmonic movement or direction (i.e. spots that are particularly striking or difficult)
  4. Note the direction of the musical line and how much can be successfully learned by the entire choir from one line of music. Mark where every line is headed in all voice parts.
  5. Mark groupings of notes that ignore the barline – especially appropriate in Renaissance music, but prominent in all styles.
  6. Use colored pencils (if they work for you) to help you see the score (red for cresc. / blue for diminuendo perhaps) bold vertical lines to see clearly a section you may subdivide when you conduct.
  7. Highlight and mark clearly and decide on the kind of onset and offset to the phrase and articulation throughout. Be particular on when, where and WHY. (i.e. glottal onset, soft onset, etc..)
  8. Mark the impetus and the attitude for the breath. Put in a key word(s) for yourself (keep your thesaurus close by).
  9. Have the pronunciation and translations decided and marked appropriately (i.e. IPA, or some other method for some languages)
  10. You may wish to have one score for research, and another for conducting that you will mark more appropriately for the rehearsal.
  11. Do the research, find out (or talk to) the composer, the poet, know the period, listen to as much music that was written at that time. Know the sources, DIG, and enjoy the process.
  12. This is your textbook for several weeks to help unlock so many of the secrets of the universe and to help every student in your choir fully realize his or her individual potential and particular place in this world. Embrace this opportunity.

"You can't possibly hear the last movement of

Beethoven's Seventh and go slow.”

(Oscar Levant, pianist, composer, author, comedian and actor explaining his way out of a speeding ticket.)

  1. Internalize the score
  2. Begin to hear the score in your mind with, then later, without the score. As you hear the song progress, you are internalizing the score.
  3. If this is difficult, sing a phrase of the song until it is ‘yours’, then try the process again. Start with a familiar line to get yourself moving forward.
  4. Add the aspect of timbre to your music making (imagine the sound of a violin, a bass, a contralto, an oboe or a sackbut).
  5. Sing one musical line while completely internalizing another. Keep adding musical layers, as you are ready to do so. (Play a line, while singing another and internalizing a 3rd)
  6. Add other musical elements to deepen the musicianship in the experience. (Exacting dynamics, true articulation)
  7. Continue to experiment with adding and changing the dynamics, the articulation, or the timbre to excite the memory more completely.
  8. Put the score in the body, move to the phrase while mentally singing or conducting. Try that with each of the musical lines (including instrumental lines). No static movements allowed – let the body sing and make its own music.
  9. Internalize it all – correct rhythms, pitches, tonal qualities, phrasing, dynamics, balances, et al.
  10. Become the actor in the scene – deepen your connection to the composer’s intentions – BELIEVE IT.
  11. Work especially hard on internalizing the ‘seams’ of the music. (The portions that change tempi, character, or influence) This is where most choirs, conductors, and accompanists will falter.

These steps are essential to begin to have a ‘sound’ in the mind’s ear to allow for the rehearsal and the nonverbal gestural communication to take place completely.

Entire books can (and have) been written about rehearsal techniques, but as ACDA Executive Director Tim Sharp says so well in his excellent conducting text, PRECISION CONDUCTING:

‘The rehearsal itself needs to be mentally rehearsed by the thoroughly prepared conductor…the conductor is internalizing and visualizing not only the music to be rehearsed, but also his or her response to the performing ensemble. “

  1. Add gesture
  2. If one has focused attention completely on the score as stated above, many of the usual gestural concerns will not be an issue.
  3. Note your overall body line-up. Appraise carefully what is being communicated before you ever give a downbeat. Students will react and hold dear that which is presented with conviction and honesty. Does your very being embrace that musical picture?
  4. While much can be solved be putting the score in the head and the heart, plenty of work needs to be done to physically engage the body to make musical sense.
  5. Consider carefully each gesture as a clear indication of setting intention until the next ‘event’. This event could be in one beat or one minute later, depending upon the music.
  6. Every gesture needs to be a preparation for the next happening. If the same pattern continues for some time, there is no need to continue in the same manner for several measures. Work to negate unimportant concerns to assist in making it more obvious to the ensemble of the next event that is to occur.
  7. Be careful not to change the composer’s intentions without very good cause. (i.e. if the piece is in 4/4 – why should you conduct it in 2/2?) However, there are many times that this may be best for both the work and the performers. Always question your decisions as you begin this process.
  8. Practice each hand separately. There are few times that we need to have the left hand mirror the right. Always ask, what can each hand say best at any particular moment. Then work to make them work independently yet with a strong synergy between them.
  9. Use videotapes, time in front of a full-length mirror, or with your respected colleagues to give you an honest critique of what is communicated. You need to thrive on continuous self-reflection (notice, not flogging), and examine whether the gesture is clear and presented in the best possible manner.
  10. Work with your accompanist ahead of time – be on the same page EXACTLY as to the particular demands and opportunities given to both of you from the composer. She/he is your right hand person in the rehearsal; it is critical to have a great working relationship with this person for aunfied message to be clearly sent to the students.

Conducting is not enough.

One must take a stand sometimes in one’s life.

(Leland Sateren – late conductor of the Augsburg College, Minneapolis)

“Ego masks our own insecurities. When you really let go - then you can listen to God conducting - be vulnerable

get rid of the things that entrap us.”

(Joseph Flummerfelt, Westminster Choir College, emeritus conductor)

  1. Become the complete conductor
  2. Never assume you know the score, always return with fresh eyes, passion, a clear mind and an open soul.
  3. Always learn something from every book, person, and situation you find yourself involved. It can all help your music making if you are aware and open to the best from a situation.
  4. Ask for help. This is a tough and lonely profession at times. Find out the people you truly trust and those who can give you the necessary feedback to help you through the tough times.
  5. Keep looking for the story inside the score – sometimes it will not come until after countless performances.
  6. Don’t be afraid of true commitment- to your ensemble, to your music, to the composer, and to the score at hand. If you can’t commit, do something else, pick a new piece, a new composer, or a new job.
  7. Embrace the yet unknown – a new language, a new style, a new genre, a new person, a new community, or a new country. They all have a story that is important to tell.
  8. Embrace the masters – don’t ever forget Palestrina, Josquin, Bach, Brahms, and so many others that allow us to anchor ourselves in the best from the past to evaluate fully the present trends.
  9. Fall in love again with the poet and the poetry that inspired so much choral music through the ages. Be wary of pieces where the composer writes the poetry. Usually one of the two avenues (the music or the poetry) doesn’t measure up to the other.
  10. Examine your personal tendencies towards certain repertoire. Are you limiting your choir because of your personal bias (or your concerns about your own abilities in a certain area)?
  11. Keep working to present a balanced diet of repertoire that touches a wide variety of people in uncommon ways.

“Choral music should begin, be, and end with wonder.”

(Elaine Brown, late Director of Choral Studies at Temple University)