The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-05
~ ". J. HEN DERSON.

Meanwhile certain old ac-
Quaintances are still welding their
batons in our presence to the unceas-
ing wonder OF some n the lim.t!ess
admiration Of others. And always
there remains in the general mind the
same want Of knowledge of what it is
that a conductor does. For nothing
can be more certain than that nine.
tenths Of those who frequent the opera
and the orchestral concerts labor un-
der singular decisions as to the duty
and achievements Of the conductor.
II is conceded by almost every one
in these days that he is an interpreter.
but about the method Of his interpre-
tation there is the same wearisome
misapprehens,o that one finds in the
consideration Of the art OF a pianist
or a violinist. Too many amiabl. peo-
pie like to fancy that the conductor
does everything on the spur Of the
moment. They wish to believe that all
interpreters do things this way. one
really intelligent woman almost shed
tears when this writer in a long con
versation finally succeeded in con-
vincing her that Jean de Reszke actu-
ally knew just how he was going to
sing Faust when he walked into the
opera house to dress for the part. The
conviction robbed her of one of her
most cherished art ideals. She wished
to believe that some sort OF mysterious
inspiration came upon him Just before
he went upon the stage and that when
he began to sing he really had not the
faintest notion Of how he was going
to treat any phrase or any number.
1t Just came to him."
So too people like TO think that when
D conductor begins TO wav q baton at
an orchestra he Is quite at sea as TO
how things are about to go. He raises
q hand now at the trumpets or shakes
a fist at the horns and instantly they
divine what ne desires and before the
composition a pass on to the next
measure they perform his will. This
In h height of nonsense.
Nevertheless the conductor is a
great power and it is indisputably true
that he o accomplish something
with the eyes OF the public upon him
and without conceal!ng anything up
his sleeve. The reason why the typi-
cal music lover knows SO little about
S"S ~ oAAA az iASIhe - VI AAlt
conductor is that he does not have OPP
~portunicies to observe him at his real
work, which Is done at rehearsal.
Much has been written about the art
Of the conductor. 1t is a pity that
some Of the more serious lovers Of
music do not read some OF 1t. Hector
Berlioz wrote a treatise on instru-
mentation away back in the middle of
h last century and the writer has be-
fore him the English translation by
Mary Cowden Clarke. published by
Novcllo. Ever 4 Co. in 1858. tEn pas
SAINT, who knows Mary Cuwden Clarke
now Some of Ne used to thumb the
pages Of her Concordance to Shake
speare.' But that was long ago.
Let us thumb those Of the old cdi-
don of Berlioz and see what We can
get. Here 1t is. the last chapter. all
about The Orchestral Conductor: the
Theory Of his Art" The whole chap
ter might be republished with profit,
but since the book is easily accessible
let US content ourselves with a sig
ni0cant bit. After calling attention tn
the fact that a composer is dependent
upon interpretative artists and adding
that in opera singers have frequently
been charged with misinterpreting the
musician, Berlioz declares that the
orchestral conductor is the most dan
erous Of the Intermediates between
the creating musician and the public.
"A bad singer a spoil only his own
part. while An Incapable or malevolent
conductor ruins all" says the author.
II the conductor is incapable and at
the same time hostile to the work there
'is no longer any vigor or unity
The outcome Of it Is that the public
thinks the music is bad Says Ber-
lioz, who had suffered some exquisite
%tortures in his day, Even those audi
tors endowed with the highest musical
intelligence are reduced To an impos-
sibility az a new work be in question
which they are hearing for the first
time) Of recognizing the ravages per
petrated by h orchestral conductor
Of discovering the follies, faults and
crimes he commits"
According to Berlioz all the technl-
cal blunders. such as false entrances
are blamed upon the eX~ecutants
whereas they are often caused by bad
conducting. Berlioz further says that
in the Ease OF familiar compositions
some few auditors will recognize the
plumbers Of a conductor, but that such
auditors are very few. The famous
Frenchman descants on the technic oil
time beating. which alone is a compli-
Gated part of the conductors art, and
upon this BerlioZ lays SO much empha.
sis for a fundamental reason, after
ward reiterated by Wagner in his book
"Ueber das Dirigen" con Conduct
ing''). This fundamental law is that
tho conductors first duty is To find
the correct tempo. Nothing else car
achieve the true artistic result If the
tempo be radically incorrect, n n,
conductor certainly must know how tc
indicate its rate of progress. This
however, is a matter hearing entirely
on the Interpretation Of a concert woiE
~ AN operate scene. The details Vi
technical finish which the conductor
has to arrange are all contributory Il
the general result. Even when tn,
tempo is right. II everything else b,
wrong the composers message canno'
DC published.
The conductor is responsible for tn,
cultivation in his orchestra Of precision
and unanimity. Precision means tn,
exact unity OF attack in beginning ,
phrase and the equally exact cessatio,
OF the tone at the n Of a phrase