Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE The Conductor's Mind
- PART TWO The Conductor's Skills
- 7 Balance
- 8 Choral Works
- 9 Concerto Accompaniment
- 10 Ear
- 11 Eye Contact
- 12 Opera
- 13 Rehearsing
- PART THREE The Conductor's Hands
- PART FOUR The Conductor and the Musicians
- PART FIVE The Conductor and the Instruments
- PART SIX The Conductor, the Composer, and the Score
- PART SEVEN The Conductor and the Audience
- PART EIGHT The Conductor and “the Business”
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
11 - Eye Contact
from PART TWO - The Conductor's Skills
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE The Conductor's Mind
- PART TWO The Conductor's Skills
- 7 Balance
- 8 Choral Works
- 9 Concerto Accompaniment
- 10 Ear
- 11 Eye Contact
- 12 Opera
- 13 Rehearsing
- PART THREE The Conductor's Hands
- PART FOUR The Conductor and the Musicians
- PART FIVE The Conductor and the Instruments
- PART SIX The Conductor, the Composer, and the Score
- PART SEVEN The Conductor and the Audience
- PART EIGHT The Conductor and “the Business”
- PART NINE Inside the Conductor
- Suggested Reading
- Musical Example Credits
- A Note on the Illustrations
- Index of Conductors
Summary
While rehearsing one European orchestra, I found I could never make eye contact with the principal double-bass player. At the interval I asked if he'd kindly glance in my direction from time to time. He was charming and apologetic, explaining that as a student he'd developed the habit of never looking at conductors. The chief conductor at his conservatory was bad tempered and cross-eyed; he never knew whether he was yelling at him or someone else, so he stayed out of trouble by keeping his head down.
Nearly all conductors would say that eye contact is essential. Herbert von Karajan was a famous exception: he seldom looked at any player, but his superhuman powers of concentration established a strong connection with his musicians.
Eye contact communicates when to play and how to play. It's not merely a way of giving cues; to a sensitive musician it can convey expression, style, and mood. It can serve as a reminder of something important from the rehearsals, and it gives individual players a strong sense of involvement. It also makes them feel the conductor is open to what they're doing, creating two-way musical communication. At a first rehearsal, musicians sitting at the back look at a conductor in the hope that he'll look back at them occasionally. If they're ignored for more than ten minutes, they give up and retreat into their parts. I often did this myself.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Inside Conducting , pp. 43 - 45Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013