Thursday, April 28, 2011

Where to Start: Connecting Conducting With The Theory Behind It

How often do we take theory classes as a part of our complete musicianship training, and think to ourselves, "This is so abstract. I will never use this"? The key to making theory meaningful is to apply it to real life situations where the theory is understood in relation to other aspects of being musical. This blog will focus on how connecting theory and conducting will improve the musicality of the musician involved.

Theoretical analysis of a piece of music will inform a conductor’s ability.

Understanding the theory involved in a piece of music will help each conductor recognize the meaning of his or her movements.

A conductor's actual theoretical analysis will then make his or her conducting more clear.



Through the next several posts, I will look at the theory of several scores using formal analysis, harmonic analysis, phrase analysis, as well as marking the score for conducting. Feel free to add comments, or your own examples of how specific types of analysis have informed and improved your conducting.

Formal Analysis

How often when you are teaching music to ensemble members do you ask them, or even ask yourself "What is the structure of the song’s form?" Can you answer that? Is the piece a sonata allegro form, a rondo, ABA, through-composed, or a verse and refrain? Understanding this and having your ensemble members understand this can make a difference in how a piece might be conducted and performed.

Let’s take a look at some specific pieces.



This is the first page of Symphony No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven. I have added score markings to show the formal sections, the phrase motives, and the Roman numeral score analysis. Each of these things will be helpful in better understanding how to conduct this piece of music.


Symphony 1, Movement 1
Ludwig van Beethoven




This is a graphic representation I created with a designer to show the analysis of the entire first movement in one page.

Looking at the overall form we see that this movement is in Sonata Allegro form with an opening introduction. Knowing the form of this piece, including its primary and secondary themes with transitions and endings helps a conductor know what the key moments are in the music and what he or she is building toward.

Here is another example of formal analysis

Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren
Johannes Brahmes




Understanding that this piece was a double canon at the 9th helped me better understand the order of the cues, and mark my score appropriately. I also marked my score form as ABA(v) with an introduction, interlude between B and A(v), and a Coda to finish the piece.

Harmonic Analysis

Showing each key area, modulations, and significant chord functions will help a conductor know where the music is going and if there are specific moments in the music that need to be cued.

We will again look in detail at the harmonic analysis of Symphony 1, Movement 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven



We can see that this piece focuses around the I and V in the key of C during the introduction and exposition. The development takes the music in many different keys, but returns to C for the recapitulation and coda.

Listen specifically to the first and second endings of the exposition. The difference in remaining in the same key or modulating to a new key makes a difference in his conducting.



1st ending 00:02:53, skips to 2nd ending immediately after
Astoria Symphony (NYC), conducted by Silas Nathaniel Huff, recorded live in October 2009

Here is another example with the Harmonic Analysis included with the video.



Performed by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with Paavo Järvi, 2006.

Phrase Analysis

Where do the phrases fall?

Are there short phrases within longer phrases?

How can this knowledge help a conductor?

These questions are extremely important for conductors to think through. Analyzing the phrases within a piece of music informs a conductor's gestures. It helps the conductor know what to build toward. It helps the conductor understand the movement of the piece and make distinctions about what to bring out in the ensemble.

Looking again at Johannes Brahmes "Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren" to understanding specific phrasing we will see how a composer's interpretation can bring a piece of music to life.

I added in numerical phrase analysis throughout this piece under each stanza. Through this type of phrase analysis, the conductor is able to convey the rise and fall of the line in the different voices. She gives cues for lifts and breaths according to the phrasing.




















































































































The phrase analysis of a piece of music is personal to each conductor. Without putting thought into actually analyzing the phrases a conductor might never find what works best for him.

Score Marking

Marking the score according to analysis can be anything from instrument cues to dynamic changes. Conductors might mark the beat style, specific uses of left hand, tempo decisions, cut-offs, or other things they find help them understand the music better and convey that to the musicians.

Examples of score marking from
Festival Te Deum
By Benjamin Britten




In this opening line of Benjamin Britten's Festival Te Deum, the conductor has added score markings to bring attention to changing meter, conducting patterns, dynamics, and articulation.



The conductor has marked beat patterns, dynamics, and breath marks
(notice the breath marks noted by the composer for the organ which also are to be observed by the conductor)



Again we have beat patterns, phrasing, and dynamics marked specifically



This shows changing meter, beat patterns, voice cuing, and dynamics



In this passage we see voice cues, a translation of Italian expression, breath (lift) marks for organ, and dynamics

Share the Knowledge

As a conductor, it is important to share your understanding of theory to help those you are conducting understand and perform the music better.

Here, Dr. Stephen Alltop from Northwestern University works with the Alice Millar Chapel Choir.  Listen to the things he shares with them from his understanding of the music.



A few of the theory concepts discussed:
mixed meter, releases, asymmetric meter, scale degrees, leading tone to tonic, phrasing

Thoughts from Conductors

Here are a few words from professional conductors on how they use theory to improve their own conducting.

On-line Resources related to Conducting

There are various resources available on the internet that can inform theory analysis and conducting. A few are accessible below for your perusal.

Web metronome

The Virtual Conductor

Wii Conducting