Customer Reviews

A History of Orchestral Conducting in Theory and Practice

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Almost everyone loves symphony orchestras and the conductors who lead them always draw our attention. How their varying gestures and very different styles translate into the sounds we hear is a mystery to most people and a few conductors become stars and celebrities with the general public. This big book by Elliot Galkin shows you a wide variety of approaches to conducting, how the theory and practice of conducting has changed over the centuries, and concludes with a survey of the stars of the baton.

The book has lots of illustrations, photographs, and even caricatures of the conductors, various scores that show you the changing combination of instruments in the orchestra over time, seating plans (I find these extremely interesting), excerpts and title pages from treatises on conducting, and various conducting patterns. There are also a few tables laying out the composition of the orchestras used by various composers over time.

While there are a few technical aspects to this book, it is really for anyone interested in conductors, how the role of the conductor developed and changed over the centuries, and some brief biographical and career information about the stars of conducting. I found the book fascinating and am very happy to have it in my library. However, you should not consider this a textbook for learning the art of conducting. This is much more generally informative and comparative rather than pedagogical.

While I realize that the author could not include information on all the great conductors and I agree with those he did include, I do miss not having more on one of my personal favorites, George Szell. But I don't want to give up all the good things in this book because of a sense of pique over not presenting me with information on someone on my personal list of greats. You may also find a conductor you love not here. But even the biggest book can't include everything. So, I think it is better to enjoy what is here rather than miss out because of what isn't.

Enjoy! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topics I have listed here with the caveat that someone who is already a well informed and well trained professional may find the information here all too familiar. But for the general music lover, this is a delight and offers you many opportunities for exploration.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI