The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-07-05
THEMODERNORCHESTRAL CONDUCTOR

In what now seems the probable
ard Strauss and FeIiz Weingartner, two
among the most notable Of German con
/ dUctors. not 10 mention Mr. Grams Sc
/ lection OF a new operate conductor Mr..
I Alfred Hertz. from the same country,
/ for the Wagner music dramas. it is
leaps and bounds the modern orches-
trail leader has attained Ills present
position OF Importance, says the 'PhiIa-
delphia Public Ledger" Conducting il
one form or another has always OBJ
tanned as long as we have any history
OF music. The ancients employed a
leader to beat time with his feet, upon
which he purposeIy wore heavily weight
ed sandals. though sometimes the
rhythm was marked by the cIapping Of
I hands or the beating together Of shells,
and this, or similar methods Of marking
the time by percussion, continued II
use until the latter part OF the
eighteenth century. For the next hun
dTed years It was Customary for the
leader" of the orchestra, as he was
called, to beat time with his bow.
stamping his foot or tapping his desk for
emphasis as occasion called for it, but
at all other times playing with the
band Occasionally he was REINFORCED
by what was called a chief musician,
who sat at piano with the score in
front OF him It was the duty Of the
latter If the orchestra went astray to
pull il together again with a few
passionate chords. An illustration of
the survival Of this style was given as
recently as November. 1900. at the
Academy Of Music. when Edouard
Strauss conducted his own orchestra,
using both his feet and his bow for beat
ing time, and occasionally helping out
BY playing on his violin.
Using & baton as q means OF conduct
ing was absolutely unknown, either in
England or in this country, less than
a century ago, though the practice pre-
vailed to some extent on the Continent.
It was a German (Spohr. In 1920 who
first beat time with his Taktirstabehen
in England AT a concert of the PhiIhar-
monte Society: but it was not until 1916
that the functions OF the conductor, as
opposed to those Of a leader" we're
regularly recognized in that country on
the programs of the day. and in all
probability the first recognition of the
conductor IN this country came a few
years later, when Jules Benedict con
Quoted Jenny Lind's concerts in 1850;
certainly not later than October I3. IS52.
when Sontag gave a Grand Extra Con
cert" in Philadelphia in Musical Fund
/ Hall: for at that time the program
referred TO Carl Bergman {the first
regular conductor of the Germania Or
chestra) as leader and Carl Eckert
tMme- Sontag's conductor) as conductor.
But the virtuoso wielder of the baton
I IN the modern sense of the term wa
not fairly on the road TO his ultimate
development for another FIVE and TWEEN
ty years; practically not until Richard
Wagner's music had taken a fair hold
upon the Public-say about the year fol-
lowing the first performance of the
Nibelungen Ring at Bayreuth in 1876.
when Wagner personally conducted or
chestraI concerts in ondon, at which
only selections from his own works were
played
It is the wonderful intricacy Of mod
ern orchestration. which dates from the
time when Wagner first showed the way
that has given the modern conductor
his opportunity. The complex and sub
tie suggestions Of modern scores afford
as many opportunities for new readings
as viii be found in any great dramatic
poem, and he conducts best whose read
ings best bring out the full beauty Of
the composition.
Great musicians are not necessarily
great conductors. Beethoven. for in
stance, was not a good one. because.
apart from his deafness. he was too err
ratio and eccentric. Schumann. too.
failed as a leader, because he lacked
many of the essential qualities. He was
morose and wanting in tact. Moreover.
he had little or no perseverance or de-
termination. and he let his mind wander
from his subject
Conductors, like poets, are born, not
made. There are certain indispensable
physical, mental. and moral qualities
that cannot be acquired from books or
from watching others In addition to
the requisite musicianly attachments and
an intimate acquaintance with the
works Of the great masters, a conductor
must be able to command and hold the