Handbook of Conducting [Paperback]

Hermann Scherchen (Author), M. D. Calvocoressi (Translator), Norman Del Mar (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0198161824 | ISBN-13: 978-0198161820 | Edition: New ed

Herman Scherchen (1891-1966), the distinguished German conductor, was largely self-taught in music. He played the viola in the Berlin Philharmonic (1907-10) and in 1918 founded the Neue Musikgesellschaft in Berlin. He was an ardent champion of twentieth-century music, especially that of Schoenberg, with whom he toured. From 1928 to 1933 he was in charge of music for the Konigsberg Radio and in 1933 settled in Switzerland and led for six years the Z�rich Radio Orchestra. A number of Scherchen's classic recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s are again available, now on compact disc. Handbook of Conducting offers an admirably full and clear analysis of the techniques of conducting. First published in 1933, it is still of immense value to all students of conducting. It will be of interest as well to all musicians and anyone who listens to orchestral music.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The conductor is more than the chief musician or a human metronome; the conductor shapes the music and its interpretation. This is the classic handbook for conductors in training, and it's a useful tool for anyone who wants to understand just what's going on up there on the podium (besides baton-waving and displays of rank egotism) and why, whether you're a serious musician or an armchair conductor. The book runs through the basics--"On Conducting" and "The Science of the Orchestra"--and into the more esoteric aspects of music-making as well.

Review

By far the most absorbing and demanding book on conducting ever published ... a veritable Bible for generations of conductors, it is both utterly visionary and rivetingly interesting ... His book will never cease to instruct, to inspire, and above all to enthral.' Norman Del Mar

Tthis book has nothing to do with early music whatsoever; it was written in 1929, so this is hardly surprising. It is, however, the best instruction book ever written for conductors, and therefore its renewed availability is of the first importance... If those of you who conduct can do everything in this book, no music will ever daunt you, from Monteverdi to Maxwell Davies. If you can't, buy it and study it... the ideal manual.' FoMRHI

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; New ed edition (February 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198161824
• ISBN-13: 978-0198161820
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #979,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars seminal figure for post-war European music new and old, December 6, 2004

By 

scarecrow "scarecrow" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Handbook of Conducting (Paperback)

When I studied conducting I thought only contemporary works will give one a technique,but no matter what you conduct Scherchen's book here makes you realize that music is music and we are simply examining timbre,and balance,its structure(top to bottom or vice versa) its shape and articulation.Whether you want to conduct only the new or only the old this is a wonderful compendium of basic problems. Scherchen focuses upon timbral problems, articulation and dynamics,what it means and how certain instruments "speak" or fail to within certain contexts.
The shapes and direction of phrases and musical lines are explored here and it makes you search for similar passages from Beethoven to Stockhausen. The structure of this book is by orchestral familes with an ample amount of real examples, excerpts from primarily classical literature, some excerpts by Hindemith.And I can tell you from experience that there is no shortage of knowledge in learning the unique features of each instrument. You can also accomplish this work from a rich survey of solo unaccompanied literarture. Bach's famous "Sonatas and Partitias" for solo violin, Berio's numerous "Sequenzas" would be great places to start.

There are no interpretive insights offered here as none can be. Scherchen lets you, he respects one's intelligence to make up your own mind and simply gives you the problem to be resolved and contemplated.

Scherchen was a seminal figure for post-war Europe, the new and old where young conductors as the young Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna had attended his rehearsals. Scherchen also encouraged young composers to submit works to him for performance. Xenakis tells a story where he had visited Scherchen in his hotel room where he found him covered in the enormous pages of his "Metastasis" 3 foot by 3 foot (on the bed)

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightening look into the mechanics of conducting, February 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Handbook of Conducting (Paperback)

This book leads any students conductor through a series of excersises and musical examples that cover nearly every combination of ritards, stops, pauses etc. By this book, even if it is only for a reference or opinion on how you might handle a particular situation.