Conducting - MUS 319
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The clip above is taken from The Art of Conducting - Great Conductors of the Past.
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Consider the following, written by Elias Canetti (from Crowds and Power), cited in Jens Malte Fischer's biography of Gustav Mahler, and how it accurately relates to the concept of the "Maestro Myth": 'His eyes hold the whole orchestra. Every player feels that the conductor sees him personally, and, still more, hears him. The voices of the instruments are opinions and convictions on which he keeps a close watch. He is omniscient, for, while the players have only their parts in front of them, he has the whole score in his head, or on his desk. At any given moment he knows precisely what each player should be doing. His attention is everywhere at once, and it is to this that he owes a large part of his authority. He is inside the mind of every player. He knows not only what each should be doing, but also what he is doing. He is the living embodiment of the law, both positive and negative. His hands decree and prohibit. His ears search out profanation. Thus for the orchestra the conductor literally embodies the work they are playing, the simultaneity of the sounds as well as their sequence; and since, during the performance, nothing is supposed to exist except this work, for so long is the conductor the ruler of the world.' Jens Malte Fischer, Gustav Mahler, p. 193. |
