34

university conducting teacher and one experienced Melbourne secondary school

conductor from the surveys, is intended for the beginning university conducting
class. While it contains good ideas, such as flexibility exercises, the important
concepts of release and left hand gestures are taught in rather scant detail. Curtis
and Kuehn’s textbook begins with three pages of errata – hardly a promising
introduction to a conducting method. The authors recommend the use of
conducting exercises that can be used by small groups of conducting students,
claiming that the total education required of a conductor should include practical
conducting of musical examples. The book uses specially composed conducting
etudes, which can be used by ‘almost any combination and number of wind and
string instruments’ (Curtis and Kuehn 1992:xi).
The first chapter outlines a very brief history of conducting, presented mainly to
show how the non-verbal communication aspect of conducting has developed.
The second chapter entitled ‘Basic Techniques of Conducting,’ begins by
teaching some very good flexibility exercises, which are particularly effective in
that they involve not only the whole body, but also work both right and left hands
equally, much along the same lines as Maiello’s exercises, which are even more
effective. Although both hands tend to be operating at the same time and at the
same speed in Curtis and Kuehn’s exercises, left hand independence is
encouraged through the left hand travelling in a different direction to the right, or
on a different plane.
Most conducting books teach a ‘palm down’ position for the right hand when
conducting. Some other conducting teachers instead favour the ‘Nikisch’ grip22,
which places the right thumb on top. This textbook is unique in suggesting a
midway position between the two, with the justification that ‘in this way, the
wrist can move up and down and side to side with equal ease’ (Curtis and Kuehn
1992:14). This method is used in an effective way to introduce the baton grip.
The teaching of dynamics is well covered by Curtis and Kuehn, with clear and
effective diagrams linking the overall size of conducting gestures to dynamic
range. The introduction of preparatory and cut-off gestures, however, is not done
in a clear manner, with release gestures in particular being needlessly
complicated in the early stages, differentiating between breath releases, releases
into rests, and caesura releases while still in the relatively early stages of

22
Named after the Hungarian-born conductor, Arthur Nikisch, who popularised this baton grip.