Tyler Clark

3/10/20
Vivaldi – Magnificat in g minor

There were many things that I improved upon between my first and second attempts at

conducting this song. I used more facial gestures to help further convey the emotions I was

wanting from the ensemble. My legato felt much steadier than before as well. I was more aware

of dynamics throughout the piece and had better control over them than before. I was also more

aware of phrasing and did my best to show it in my conducting. The most effective improvement

that I made was simply knowing the music better. I was aware of every cue I needed to make,

and was even able to cue the altos with my baton a beat after I had just cued the tenors in

measure 95. Knowing the music better allowed me to make eye contact with every section that I

was cuing, making the ensemble feel more confident about their entrances. Additionally, I was

able to mouth the words to the singers I was cuing to further encourage their entrances.

That being said, there were still some things I could improve upon. For instance, I was

unaware of how much my elbow was bending in my right arm until I watched the video. I also

noticed that my left hand tended to pulse slightly with the beat I was conducting in my right hand

when giving dynamic cues by raising and lowering my hand. My ictus plane could have been a

bit lower as well. There were a few techniques that I tried out that could have been executed

better. My attempts at messa di voce’s were noticeable, but I do not believe they were executed

correctly. I also attempted to close my fingers on the final cutoff to signal singers to close to the

“m” consonant.

To address the arm bending, I can spend more time practicing with my arms stiff and

then slowly introducing more slack. Practicing dynamic signals slowly might help me to not

pulse with the beat in my left hand. I can become more aware of my ictus plane height by

practicing in front of a mirror more often. Lastly, I can get additional help with the new

techniques I tried to make sure that I am not practicing improper technique.