Essentials in Conducting Part 16

[Sidenote: DISTRIBUTING AND CARING FOR THE MUSIC]

Have the distribution and care of music so systematized that there will be neither confusion nor waste of time in this part of the rehearsal. In a professional organization there will of course be a salaried librarian to see to such work, but it is entirely possible to secure somewhat the same kind of results in an amateur body by having two or three members elected or appointed for the task, these persons serving either entirely without salary or being paid a purely nominal sum. These librarians will then be expected to take the responsibility of marking new music, of distributing and collecting it at such times as may be agreed upon by librarian and conductor, and of caring for it at concerts or at any other time when it is to be used.

It will be the duty also of the head librarian to keep a record of all music loaned or rented, and to see that it is returned in good condition. It would be well too if he kept a card index, showing just what music is owned by the organization, the number of copies of each selection, the price, the publisher, the date when purchased, _et cetera_. Ask the librarians to come five or ten minutes before the beginning of the rehearsal, and make it your business to provide one of them with a slip having upon it the names or numbers of all the selections to be used at that particular rehearsal. Keeping the music in covers or in separate compartments of a cabinet, one of which will hold all of the copies of a single selection, and having these arranged alphabetically or numerically, will considerably facilitate matters for both you and the librarians. Do not think it beneath your dignity to investigate the number of copies of any composition that you are planning to use, and when there are not enough to supply each singer in the chorus and each desk in the orchestra with a copy, to see to it that more music is ordered. It is impossible to rehea.r.s.e efficiently if the singers in a chorus have to use a part of their energy in trying to read music from a book or sheet held by some one else, or if the players in an orchestra are straining their eyes because three or four instead of two are reading from a single desk.

It will be convenient for the conductor to possess a file containing a copy of each number in the library at his home or studio, each copy being marked "conductor's copy." In this way, the director will always be a.s.sured of having the same music, and will feel that it is worth while to mark it in such a way as to make it more useful in both rehearsal and performance.

[Sidenote: COUNTING ALOUD, TAPPING, AND SINGING WITH THE CHORUS]

Do not make the mistake of counting or tapping on the desk constantly during the rehearsal. You may think you are strengthening the rhythm, but as a matter of fact, you are actually weakening it, for in this way you take away from the performers the necessity of individual muscular response to the pulse, and at the performance (when you cannot, of course, count or tap) the rhythm is very likely to be flabby and uncertain. Singing with the chorus is another mistake against which the amateur should be warned. The director not only cannot detect errors and make intelligent criticisms if he sings with the chorus, but will make the members dependent upon his voice instead of compelling them to form the habit of watching him. The only exception to this principle is in teaching new music to a choir composed of very poor readers, in which case it is sometimes much easier to teach a difficult phrase by imitation. Even here, however, it is almost as well to have the organ give the correct tones. In leading community singing, the conductor will of course sing with the crowd, for here he is striving for quite a different sort of effect.

[Sidenote: VENTILATION]

See to it that the practice room is well ventilated, especially for a chorus rehearsal. Plenty of fresh air will not only enable your chorus to sing with better intonation, but will allow them to sing for a longer period without fatigue. (We are tempted to add a corollary to this proposition: namely, that sleepy congregations are not always due to poor preaching, as is generally supposed, but are as frequently the result of a combination of fairly good preaching and a badly ventilated auditorium!)

[Sidenote: _A CAPPELLA_ REHEARSING]

In directing a chorus rehearsal, have your singers study without accompaniment much of the time. The organ "covers a mult.i.tude of sins"

and practising without it will not only enable you to discover weaknesses of all sorts but will help the singers themselves enormously by making them more independent, improving the intonation, and compelling them to make cleaner and more definite attacks and releases.

[Sidenote: THE VALUE OF A SENSE OF HUMOR]

Finally, in concluding both this chapter and the book as a whole, let us commend once more to the conductor that he cultivate "the saving grace of humor." This quality has already been commented on somewhat at length in an earlier chapter (see p. 8), but it is in the rehearsal period that it is most needed, and the conductor who is fortunate enough to be able to laugh a little when annoyances interrupt or disrupt his plans instead of snarling, will not only hold the members of the organization together for a longer time, because of their cordial personal att.i.tude toward him, but will find himself much less fatigued at the end of the rehearsal; for nothing drains one's vitality so rapidly as scolding. A bit of humorous repartee, then, especially in response to the complaints of some lazy or grouchy performer; the ability to meet accidental mishaps without anger; even a humorous anecdote to relieve the strain of a taxing rehearsal--all these are to be highly recommended as means of oiling the machinery of the rehearsal and making it run smoothly.

But of course, even humor can be overdone. So we shall close by quoting the Greek motto, "Nothing too much," which will be found to apply equally well to many other activities recommended in the foregoing pages.

APPENDIX A

REFERENCE LIST

I. GENERAL:

Berlioz, _The Orchestral Conductor_. A short treatise full of practical suggestions. It is found in the back of the author's well-known volume on _Orchestration_.

Weingartner, _On Conducting_. A small volume of about seventy-five pages, but containing excellent material for both amateur and professional.

Schroeder, _Handbook of Conducting_. A practical little book from the standpoint of both orchestral and operatic directing.

Wagner, _On Conducting_. A short treatise that every professional conductor will wish to read, but not of much value to the amateur.

Mees, _Choirs and Choral Music_. A well-written account of the history of choral music from the time of the Hebrews and Greeks down to the present, containing also an excellent chapter on the Chorus Conductor.

Grove, _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (article, Conducting).

Henderson, _What Is Good Music?_ (chapters XIII and XVII).

Krehbiel, _How to Listen to Music_ (chapter VIII).

II. INTERPRETATION:

Coward, _Choral Technique and Interpretation_. One of the few really significant books on conducting. The author gives in a clear and practical way the principles on which his own successful work as a choral conductor was based.

Matthay, _Musical Interpretation_. A book for the musician in general, rather than for the conductor specifically; an excellent treatise and one that all musicians should read.

III. THE ORCHESTRA:

Lavignac, _Music and Musicians_ (chapter II).

Mason, _The Orchestral Instruments and What They Do_.

Corder, _The Orchestra and How to Write for It_.

Prout, _The Orchestra_ (two volumes).

Kling, _Modern Orchestration and Instrumentation_.

Henderson, _The Orchestra and Orchestral Music_; contains two chapters (XII and XIII) on the Orchestral Conductor that will be of great interest to the amateur.

Mason (Editor), _The Art of Music_ (Vol. VIII).

Stoeving, _The Art of Violin Bowing_.

Forsyth, _Orchestration_. A particularly good book both for professional and amateur, as it gives many ill.u.s.trations and treats the various instruments from an historical as well as a practical standpoint.

Widor, _The Modern Orchestra_.

IV. THE CHURCH CHOIR:

Curwen, _Studies in Wors.h.i.+p Music_ (two volumes).

d.i.c.kinson, _Music in the History of the Western Church_.

Helmore, _Primer of Plainsong_.

Pratt, _Musical Ministries in the Church_.

V. THE BOY CHOIR:

Bates, _Voice Culture for Children_.