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The
technique of conductorship has been for several years the subject of
innumerable discussions. Lots of schools deal with this matter, some of
them give more importance to the study and interpretation of the score,
unavoidable elements of this art, without analysing the technical aspect.
These schools don't consider the hypothesis that the student could, by a
correct use of his arms, interact with the orchestra, and even maintain
that the technical component doesn't affect the performance; they
consider that the student, through practise and experience , has to
elaborate a personal technique. Other schools even deny the existence of
a technique, confining the personal ability only to his personal
charisma, to the empathy he can obtain with an orchestra, to the
professionalism of the orchestrals themselves. This difference of
opinion constitutes the basis of the formation of the so called "National
Schools" .
Actually the technique must be studied particularly carefully.
But after all , what is Technique?
Examining the technique of the musical instruments we realize that it
consists in learning to performe a series of movements to which
corresponds a specific sound reaction. When the musician had mastered it
, he uses it appropriately in order to show, through the instrument ,
his musical thought. During the performance, he doesn't take care of the
technique, in the same way as we, when talking, don't think of the
movements that the tongue the lips and the mouth have to do.
The director makes use of specific gestures , that can be performed in
different ways and in general , to each of them corresponds a different
reaction from the orchestra and this aspect is very important. Nowadays
a student who gets ready to study the conductorship has to deal with a
vague subject, and often doesn't know which model he can follow.
Frequently students, since they don't have point of reference from the
technical point of view, model themselves on famous directors and try to
make the same gestures they do, and unfortunately even their errors and
imperfections.
Actually it's a sort of universal language which must be deeply analysed,
and the genius of Mussin consists in having codified the rules that form
the basis of it. (Some people will find it interesting to learn that
Musin's way of thinking has also German roots, being, in fact, the
result of acute obeservation of the great conductors of the German
school, who performed in the Soviet Union until 1937).
The
first and most important aim of the course lies in the definition,
development and improvement of the directorial technique, through a
detailed and exhaustive exercise with a piano laboratory and afterwards
in the moment of verification with his instrument: the orchestra. The
course has the purpose of showing how a correct gestural expressiveness
could affect the final performance.
The "technique of conductorship", like all the other form of art, has
its rules which must be studied, assimilated and applied in order to
reach the top fusion of an inner impulse and an outer clarity, to raise
the performance to the highest top, and thus involving and gratifying
not only the audience but even the orchestrals themselves.
The gesture of the director is the primary and essential element for
conducting the orchestrals in order to make the sound of several
instruments as it was the sound of one instrument: the orchestra. Young
students have to think over the fact that their arms are the only
intermediary between them and the orchestra during the performance and
that they must be aware of this mean in order to make full use of it.
They must understand how the gesture is understood by the orchestrals
and how interacts with them, and how it can be a useful guide for them
during the performance and how the director can profit from it depending
on his expressive needs.
In brief the director has to know which sound reaction he will obtain
from the orchestra as a consequence of his gestures. This is essential
for affecting the conscience of the musicians, thus obtaining a greater
control of the orchestra making them feel at ease and free.
Ennio
Nicotra |
