Lyrical Conducting: Creating Meaning

Lyrical Conducting: Creating Meaning

“Technique is not music …. Music is the thousandth of a millisecond between one note and another, how you get
from one to the other-that’s where the music is.” – ISAAC STERN

A conductor’s distinctive personal interpretation is what makes a composition unique from all others. As musicians and conductors, we are immersed in the fine art of detail, encompassing a multitude of subtle embellishments that are impossible to notate and extremely difficult to teach. We must acknowledge the significant statement made by Pablo Casals: “We can never exhaust the multiplicity of nuances and subtleties which make the charm of music. … We tend to be inhibited by the printed score with its scarcity of expressive markings.” Such nuances are impossible to define. I believe it takes many years for a musician or conductor to recognize these finite musical details because such musical subtleties are not presented or taught in our preparation as a band director.

Each conductor has his or her own interpretive ideas. Interpretation is unique with every musician. The differences are much like our taste buds. I like chocolate ice cream and you like vanilla, or, I like beef and you like seafood. No two people hear the same thing nor do they see the same things in a painting. What are the differences between conductors? There is only one difference and that is how each perceives music. Their perception of music dictates their performance, conducting, and literature selection.

If I conduct a composition several times, each time is different. I do not believe that artistic interpretation can be the same each time a selection is performed. If this happens, it no longer exists as artistic expression. To teach artistry requires a teacher who understands the spontaneity of artistic expression. It is easy to be consumed with the written notation. As Pablo Casals states, “There are so many excellent instrumentalists who are completely obsessed by the printed note, whereas it has a very limited power to express what the music actually means.” The uniqueness of interpretation is determined by how we deal with the unadorned markings of musical notation to create meaning and value.

I often use the analogy of a Rembrandt painting with a musical performance. I stated earlier that artistic interpretation couldn’t be the same each time. If so, it no longer exists as artistic expression. Consider a Rembrandt painting and what the result would be if he decided to re-paint the picture. Would it be identical? Could all the subtleties of color inflections and nuances be repeated?

Musical intelligence plays an important role when interpreting a score. Musical intelligence is having the ability to “read between the lines and beyond the boundaries of notation, ” where artistic considerations and expression are found. Musical intelligence is the result of years of study, practice, and listening with intense focus on the smallest details in search of perfection. As conductors, we must have the ability to look beyond the printed notes.

Ultimately, the ensemble will naturally sense the feeling a conductor has within his or her mind and soul. It is this energy of thoughtful expression that is given to the players. Musicians can sense this connection immediately and respond accordingly. If it becomes imitated or contrived, the conductor is a detriment to the ensemble’s music-making potential.

Artistic Considerations
“The pedagogy of conducting has focused on the teaching of technique. The stuff that allows the creation of great music is rarely dealt with in the teaching of conducting. ” -JAMES JORDAN

I frequently refer to the energy of musical thinking as “artistic thought” or “artistic considerations.” These terms playa significant role in developing an “artistic vocabulary”. When implemented within a performance, these ideas clearly distinguish a superior conductor from an average conductor. If artistic thought has not been exercised, how can one believe that the musical result will be artistic?

Artistic considerations are determined by the conductor’s artistic vocabulary; which are beyond the unadorned markings of musical notation. Artistic considerations are the “secrets” of recognized master performers, conductors, and teachers. A few of the most influential publications I found that address artistic thought are, David Blum’s Casals and the Art of Interpretation,James jordan’s A Musician’s Soul,John Krell’s Kincaidiana, 
and Donald Barra’s Dynamic Performance, and Eugene Migliaro Corporan’s Chapters found in the seven CIA volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band,

Throughout my guest conducting, I use four statements when teaching musical artistry. The concepts enhance artistic considerations and musical decisions. The first is, (1) “Music is sound moving in and out of silence.” 
This statement plays a significant role in how music is perceived and dissolves the boundaries of notation. Music is an art, but too often, becomes a “paint by number” exercise with the fear of going outside the boundaries of notation (as in preparing for an adjudication and not daring to go beyond the unadorned musical notation). I teach students to imagine an artist’s brush “lifting off into the white of canvas,” the sound disappears into infinity or the white of the canvas, dissolving the boundaries of notation. Applying this statement to musical sound and allowing our “canvas” to be “silence,” we discover the “right side” of a note as we “lift the sound off into silence” without a contrived end, simply decaying into silence.

The next statement is, (2) “Don’t play square notes.” The meaning of this statement is simple; “Square notes” lack personality and are uncharacteristic to the style of music being performed. It is connected to “music is sound moving in and out of silence.” All notes must have “life” and are energized with nuance and inflection. Moreover, square notes are much like “painting by number” and not going outside the boundary lines. Consider the natural decay of a note beyond the boundary line. The subtle musical nuances and inflections are impossible to notate, and are left up to the player and conductor to interpret. Playing notes and rhythms precisely as they appear produces sterile and uncharacteristic sounds with no meaning attached.

The third statement is, (3) “Notes remain trivial until they are animated with feeling and spirit.” This statement is connected to the first two statements about sound into silence and square notes. I am simply making the case for music having personality and character. Music is alive and must “say some- thing”! It is an extension of my favorite quote by Pablo Casals, “We can never exhaust the multiplicity of nuances and subtleties which make the charm of music.” My teacher always told me that musical expression is found behind the notes. There is nothing behind the notes, only you. Your musical imagination, personality, and expressivity create and embellish the charm of music. This is what makes music unique with every musician and conductor.

The last statement is, (4) “If you can’t say it, you can’t play it.” This not only holds true for phrasing and expression, but also for rhythmic articulation. Students misunderstand rhythm patterns because they were never required to speak them. I taught my students to speak the rhythm pattern with subdivided patterns. Simply stated, “If you can’t say it, you can’t play it.” If you can’t say it, it’s obvious you don’t understand it. “Rhythmic intelligence” must be projected through the instrument. The instrument has no intelligence.

These four statements are powerful insights essential to ensembles. Don’t let the simplicity of these statements fool you. They hold considerable musical depth and meaning.

I have no fears to be free with my interpretation. My musical decisions are based on my “reservoir of artistic considerations” that evolved from more than fifty years as a professional musician and educator. Artistic considerations evolve within our inner feelings and identify our uniqueness. This is where my decisions come from when I consider my interpretation of a composition. A few of my decisions come from the following:

Dynamic levels, either less or more from what is indicated as I shape ensemble sonority;
Slight retards or suspensions where melodic and harmonic content dictate;
Increasing the energy and intensity of a phrase to its point of repose;
Metronome markings. If I feel the tempo indicated is too slow or too fast to capture the style that ”I” believe the composer intended;
Ritards when arriving at a transition or key change to create anticipation;
Slight fermatas where appropriate harmonically; or
Slightly exaggerating or lengthening a note or notes within a phrase or rhythm pattern to create more anticipation before the point of repose.

These are only a few of the musical liberties I use when conducting. They cannot be notated, as they occur spontaneously What is important is the spontaneity that can only come from the conductor being immersed in 
what the composer has created.

As I conduct, my interpretation is based on listening vertically for harmonic content and coupling this with the musical decisions I make with the melodic horizontal line. These harmonic and melodic decisions are made through what I refer to as the “three natural laws of expression” of which I presented earlier in this publication.

Enhancing the Depth of Listening
We have spent many years attempting to categorize, collect, and document “specifics” that will assist directors when dealing with interpretation. Can we define the multiplicity of nuances and subtleties of which Casals speaks about? Such decisions are only based on the musicianship of the conductor or musician. Our “liking” must be based on a solid musical foundation and not something random or reckless that will distort the composer’s intent. This musical foundation is the difference between poor, average, and superior performance.

I often listen to recordings by Frederick Fennell, Harry Begian, Donald Hunsberger, Frank Battisti, H. Robert Reynolds, John Paynter, Col. John Bourgeois, and Col. Arnald Gabriel, to name a few. I believe listening to recordings should be a high priority It is the only way; other than live performances, to hear the uniqueness and individuality of the musicianship by such notable conductors. This is our avenue to discover and develop the smallest musical entity that makes the charm of musical expression. Moreover, it is the best means to enhance and expand our “reservoir of artistic considerations” as we mature as conductors.

Many individuals do not support listening to recordings while studying literature. I disagree wholeheartedly with such suggestions. We develop an appreciation and understanding for artistic creations by seeing and hearing music, paintings, sculpture, ballet, opera, and other art forms. Artistry is complimented significantly by what we hear, see, and touch. Such experiences shape the meaning of beauty within our mind and soul.

I compare this to the natural learning process. We first learned to speak by listening to the “word” before learning to spell and write the “word.” As a child, if you didn’t hear the word first, the word did not become a part of your growing vocabulary. We can pronounce a word a thousand different ways by simply changing the nuance and inflections that we have “stored” in our memory banks. Hearing is the first critical issue that determines our vocabulary. Hearing also provides an avenue to our musical performance vocabulary. We encourage students to listen to notable soloists to develop a concept of tone. I strongly support listening to recordings, live concerts, soloists, and every form of music to broaden our musical perceptions. This simply compliments our musical interpretation and expression. I often heard the statement that we must first establish our own interpretation before listening to a recording. This is rather difficult to do if an individual has no “musical reserve” in place to draw from past musical experiences.

My interpretation of a composition evolves through my score study. I believe there is a “line or gap” separating an artistic performance from a preplanned performance. What determines an artistic interpretation? How are artistic decisions made and are they relevant for musical meaning to occur? These are essential questions to consider. I believe artistic performance is spontaneous and not programmed. As musicians and conductors we are immersed in the fine art of detail. This encompasses a multitude of subtle embellishments that are impossible to notate and extremely difficult to teach. To teach artistry requires a director who understands and is able to demonstrate the spontaneity of artistic expression and not something contrived. This Chinese proverb says it all, “How can a caged man teach you to fly?” If one is not musically expressive as an instrumentalist or conductor, one is not able to understand or teach artistic expression (the caged man).