THE ROLE OF THE CONDUCTOR

 Think of what would happen if an orchestra had to perform without its conductor? With no one at the helm, the results could be disastrous. Who would determine the tempos or the dynamic levels? Who would cue a player after he/she had not played for several minutes? What about the rehearsals? Without the conductor, much time would be wasted, and rehearsal time for a large, professional ensemble is extremely expensive. Inefficient rehearsals usually lead to poor performances, which can embarrass the performers and result in loss of audience interest and financial support. Rehearsals can be especially critical for the non-professional conductor, whose players/singers are usually less available for rehearsals and less skilled than paid musicians. In such cases, the conductor must allocate the rehearsal time for maximum efficiency—attacking areas where the ensemble needs the most polishing. Conductors must be multi-talented. They must thoroughly know the musical score (the notes on the printed page) and its proper interpretation (style considerations). They should fully understand instrumental and vocal production, and they must know the abilities and limitations of the group's players. Aside from these innumerable technical demands, today's conductors are also responsible for the well-being of the personnel that make up their ensembles. Thus, conductors are often involved in hiring, firing or recruiting players; they may intervene in contract negotiations or clear up disputes between orchestra members, and they usually serve as the liaison between the musical organization and the public. Above all, the conductor's greatest responsibility is to determine the proper interpretation of the music. Maestro Varujan Kojian, former conductor of the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Ballet West, put it this way: "If you ask 110 players about interpreting a piece, then you will get 110 different viewpoints. Variety may be the spice of life, but when it comes to interpreting a piece of music, it should be left to only one person—the conductor." So, do not be fooled into thinking that conductors just stand up in front of an orchestra, looking pretty and flapping their arms to impress the audience. Such gestures, which may at first seem flamboyant or unnecessary, help to convey the conductor's interpretation to both the players and the audience. Without the efforts that conductors make on and off the stage, today's large-scale performances would be virtually impossible

MUSICAL ENSEMBLES

 It is essential that you remember the difference between an ensemble and agenre. An ensemble (pronounced "ON-SAHM-BULL") is a group of musicians playing together. Ensembles range in size from smaller groups, such as string quartets (four players), to larger ensembles such as the symphony orchestra. The "type" of piece that a musician plays (such as symphony, concerto, Mass, motet, etc.) is the genre (pronounced "GSHAN-RUH")—the category of musical composition. For the most part, the terms for genres and ensembles are easily distinguishable. In a few cases, however, the same term can be used to describe BOTH a genre AND the ensemble that plays it. For example, the string quartet is a four-player chamber ensemble BUT it is also a genre. In other words, Beethoven's String Quartet in C minor is performed by an ensemble of four string players, but this work is also an example of the string quartetgenre. The term symphonycan also refer to BOTH a genre and the ensemble that plays it. It might be helpful to illustrate this with a musical example from a concert program

You can probably tell right away that the performingensemble is a symphony orchestra. Now, what genreof music is being performed? It is evident by the title, Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, that the genre is also a symphony. Each individual movement of this four-movement work has its own form (you can tell there are four movements because there are four Italian tempo indications listed below the title of the work).

The following are descriptions of the most common "classical" ensembles

ENSEMBLES (performing groups)

Large Ensembles

Orchestra (also called Symphony or Symphony Orchestra) divided into four main families of instruments: string, woodwind, brass, and percussion. The illustration below shows one possible arrangement in relation to the conductor    

  Concert Band

an orchestra without strings, with more emphasis given to the brass, woodwind and percussion. Types include symphonic band, jazz or dance band, and military band.

Choir (or Chorus)

a body of singers divided into sections according to voice type. Choirs may be all male, all female, or mixed (women: soprano & alto / men: tenor & bass).

Small Ensembles

Basso Continuoprovided an improvised harmonic accompaniment for many types of Baroque music (similar in function to the keyboard and bass instruments in today's jazz, rock and pop styles). Basso continuo was usually comprised of a keyboard instrument (harpsichord or organ) and a melodic bass instrument (cello or viol' da gamba)

Chamber Ensembles

groups of 1 to 10 players that perform chamber music (usually without a conductor). The string quartet and the woodwind quintet are the most common examples of modern chamber ensembles

The String Quartet

an instrumental ensemble with four players (two violins, viola and cello)

The Woodwind Quintet

(a quintet is any chamber ensemble having five players). A woodwind quintet is a specific group of four woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon) plus "French" Horn (a brass instrument that blends well with winds).           

Ancient Keyboard Instruments

 The harpsichord and organ were the most prominent typesof keyboard instruments in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The HARPSICHORD (an ancestor to the modern piano)  

The harpsichord's distinctive "plucked" sound is due to its unique key mechanism: When one of its keys is pressed, a quill attached to a lever plucks the respective string, producing a sharp,dry sound that dies away quickly. The harpsichord was the most popular keyboard instrument of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. It is still used todayby performers specializing in early music

The ORGAN

The organ—the most complex Western instrument ever devised— is comprised of a series of wooden or metal pipes connected to one or more keyboards (called manuals) via a set of "stops" (mechanical levers or electrical switches that open or close air flow to the individual pipes). Before the advent of electric motors, the wind pressure had to be supplied by an assistant pumping a bellows (a corrugated air bag).

The ORGAN

The organ—the most complex Western instrument ever devised— is comprised of a series of wooden or metal pipes connected to one or more keyboards (called manuals) via a set of "stops" (mechanical levers or electrical switches that open or close air flow to the individual pipes). Before the advent of electric motors, the wind pressure had to be supplied by an assistant pumping a bellows (a corrugated air bag).     

 

This cross-section diagram of an 18th-century French organ, shows the hand-pumped air bellowsand several manuals(keyboards) on the organ's console. A cut-away view of an interior church wall is located in the center of the diagram (the organist is to the right of the wall, the bellows operator is to the left of the wall).