A practical manual for building musical understanding and physical skills, intended for conductors at all stages of development.
This book is a practical manual for anyone who stands on a podium helping an ensemble make music. The four main chapters address the major obligations of the conductor: (1) bringing the musical tones to life in the most beautiful, most moving way possible; (2) freeing the mind to fully absorb all the tones; (3) freeing the body of unnecessary tension; and (4) effectively using the freed mind and body to influence the sounds. Each chapter begins with a summary of the underlying principles, presents real-life applications, and offers exercises for developing skills.
Video demonstrations of the exercises as well as downloadable scores and parts are available on a companion website. The parts, in multiple transpositions, allow for hands-on experience where standard instrumental complements are unavailable.
Markand Thakar, music director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, is an internationally renowned pedagogue of conducting. A protégé of the legendary Sergiu Celibidache and former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Thakar is author of
Looking for the ‘Harp’ Quartet: An Investigation into Musical Beauty (University of Rochester Press, 2011) and
Counterpoint: Fundamentals of Music Making (Yale University Press, 1990).
Table of Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Make Beautiful Music: Involving Singularity of Tones in Succession and of Tones Sounding Simultaneously
Free the Mind, Hear Everything: Connecting the Open Consciousness to All the Sounds, All the Time
Free the Body: Involving the Necessity of Freeing the Body from Unnecessary Muscle Tensions
Be the Music: Applying the Free Body in the Service of a Maximally Beautiful Performance
Addendum A. Starting, Stopping, and Fermatas: Achieving a Collective Sense of When to Begin and End the Sound
Addendum B. Odds and Ends: A Miscellany of Matters Musical, Physical, and Practical
Bibliography
Index
About the author
MARKAND THAKAR is an American conductor and music director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
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