The Orchestral Conductor.

Theory of His Art

Author(s): Hector Berlioz
Source: The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular , May 1, 1856, Vol. 7, No. 159 (May
1, 1856), pp. 227-230
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/3370919

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 THE MUSICAL TIMES- May I, 1856. 227

THE MUSICAL TIMES, singer before the end of a phrase, they exclaim : -
" The singers are detestable ! The orchestra has no
&nir Ringing Ctess Circular,
firmness ; the violins have disfigured the principal
MAY 1st, 1856.
design ; everybody has been wanting in vigour and
animation ; the tenor was quite out, he did not know
THE ORCHESTRAL CONDUCTOR. his part, - the harmony is confused ; the author is no
By Hector Berlioz.* accompanyist : the voices are, &c., &c., &c."
Theory of his Art . It is hardly, except in listening to the great works
already known and esteemed, that intelligent hearers
Music appears to be the most exacting of all the
can distinguish the true culprit, and allot to each his
Arts, the most difficult to cultivate, and that of
due share of blame ; but the number of these is still
which the productions are most rarely presented in
so limited, that their judgment has little weight :
a condition which permits an appreciation of their
and the bad conductor, - in presence of the same
real value, seeing clearly their physiognomy, or dis-
public who would pitilessly hiss a vocal accident of
covering their real meaning and their true character.
a good singer, - reigns, with all the calm of a bad
Of all producing artists, the composer is almost the
conscience, in his baseness and inefficiency. Fortu-
only one, in fact, who depends upon a multitude of
nately, I here attack an exception ; for the malevo-
intermediate agents between the public and himself ;
lent orchestral conductor - whether capable or not -
intermediate agents, either intelligent or stupid, de-
is very rare.
voted or hostile, active or inert, capable - from
The orchestral conductor full of good-will, but
first to last - of contributing to the brilliancy of his
incapable, is, on the contrary, very common.
work, or of disfiguring it, misrepresenting it, and
Without speaking of the innumerable mediocrities,
even destroying it completely.
directing artists, who, frequently, are greatly their
The singers have often been accused of forming
superiors, an author, for example, can scarcely be
the most dangerous of these intermediate agents ;
accused of conspiring against his own works ; and
but, in my opinion, without justice. The most for-
yet, how many are there, who, fancying they are able
midable, to my thinking, is the conductor of the
to conduct, innocently injure their best scores.
orchestra. A bad singer can spoil only his ownBeethoven, it is said, more than once ruined the
part ; while an incapable or malevolent conductor
performance of his symphonies ; which he would
ruins all. Happy, also, may that composer esteem
conduct, even at the time when his deafness had be-
himself, when the conductor into whose hands he
has fallen, is not at once incapable and inimical.come almost complete. The musicians, that they
might keep together, agreed at length to follow the
hor nothing can resist the pernicious influence of
slight indications of time which the concert-meister
this person. The most admirable orchestra is then
(first violin-leader) gave them ; and not to attend to
paralysed, the most excellent singers are perplexed
Beethoven's con ducting- stick. Moreover, it should
and rendered dull ; there is no longer any vigour or
be observed, that conducting a symphony, an over-
unity ; under such direction, the noblest boldnesses
ture, or any other composition whose movements
of the author appear extravagances, enthusiasm be-
remain continuous, vary little, and contain few nice
holds its soaring flight checked, inspiration is vio-
gradations, is child's-play in comparison with con-
lently brought down to earth, the angel's wings are
ducting an opera, or the like work, where there are
fallen, the man of genius passes for a madman or an
idiot, the divine statue is precipitated from its pe- recitatives, airs, and numerous orchestral designs
preceded by pauses of irregular length.
destal and dragged in the mud. And, what is worse,
the public, and even those auditors endowed withThe example of Beethoven, which I have just
cited, leads me at once to say that if the direction of
the highest musical intelligence, are reduced to an
an orchestra appear to me very difficult for a blind
impossibility (if a new work be in question, which
man, it is indisputably impossible for a deaf one ;
they are hearing for the first time) of recognizing
whatever may have been his technical talent, before
the ravages perpetrated by the orchestral» conductor,
losing his sense of hearing.
of discovering the follies, faults, and crimes he com-
mits. If they clearly perceive certain defects of The orchestral conductor should see and hear ; he
execution, it is not him, but his victims, who are in should be active and vigorous , should know the
such cases made responsible. If he have caused the composition, the nature and compass of the instru-
ments. should be able to read the score, and possess,
chorus-singers to fail in taking up a point in a finale,
if he have allowed a discordant wavering to take - besides the especial talent of which we are going
place between the choir and the orchestra, or between to endeavour to explain the constituent qualities, -
other almost indefinable gifts, without which an
the two extreme sides of the instrumental body,invisible if link cannot establish itself between him and
he have absurdly hurried a movement, if he have
those he directs ; the faculty of transmitting to them
allowed it to linger unduly, if he have interrupted a
his feeling is denied him, and thence, power, empire,
* A Treatise upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration ; con-
taining an Exact Table of the Compass, a Detail of the Mechanism, and and guiding influence completely fail him. It is then
a Study of the Quality of Tone, and Expressive Character of Various no longer a conductor, a director, but a simple beater
Instruments ; accompanied by Numerous Examples in Score , from the
Works of the Greatest Masters, and from some Unpublished Works of the of the time, - supposing he knows how to beat it,
Author. New Edition, revised, corrected, augmented by several additionaland divide it. regularly.
( copyright) chapters on Newly -Invented Instruments, and on the whole Art
of the Orchestral Conductor. By Hector Berlioz. Op. 10. Translated They should feel that he feels, comprehends, and
from the French by Mary Cowden Clarke. Published in Novello'sis moved ; then his feeling, his emotion communicate
Library for the diffusion of Musical Knowledge. Theoretical Series,
No. VII. To be ready on May 15. Price 12s., bound themselves to those whom he directs, his inward fire

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228 THE MUSICAL TIMES.- May I, 1856.

warms them, his electric glow electrifies them,

proof, in seeing how oldhis
operas are given in towns
force of impulse excites them ; he throws
where around
the traditional him
mode of performance no longer
the vital irradiations of Musical exists.
Art. In Iften
hedifferent
he inert kinds of time, there will
and frozen, on the contrary, healways
paralyses all
be at least ahout
four taken wrongly. I once heard
him, like those floating masses of the polar
a chorus seas, in
of Iphigenia theTauride performed in a
approach of which is perceivedGerman
fromtheatre
the allegro
sudden assai , two in the bar, instead
cooling of the atmosphere. of allegro non troppo , four in the har ; that is to
say,
His task is a complicated one. Heexactly
has twice
not too fast. Examples might be
only
multiplied intentions,
to conduct, in the spirit of the author's of such disasters,
a occasioned either by
work with which the performersthe ignorance
have already or the carelessness of conductors of
become
acquainted, but he has also to give them
orchestras this
; or else ac-real difficulty which exists
by the
quaintance, when a work is in
forquestion that is
even the best-gifted and most careful men, to
new to them. He has to criticise the errors and discover the precise meaning of the Italian terms
used as indications of the time to be taken. Of
defects of each, during the rehearsals, and to organise
the resources at his disposal in such a way as course
to de- no one can be at a loss to distinguish a Largo
from a Presto. If the Presto be two in a bar, a
rive the best use he can of them, with the utmost
promptitude. For, in the majority of European
tolerably sagacious conductor, from inspection of the
cities now-a-days, Musical Artizanship is so ill dis- and melodial designs contained in the piece,
passages
tributed, performers so ill paid, and the necessity
will be able to trace the degree of quickness intended
of study so little understood, that economy of bytime
the author. But if the Largo be four in a bar, of
should be reckoned among the most imperative simple melodial structure, and containing but few
requisites of the orchestral conductor's art. notes in each bar, what means would the hapless
Let us now examine what forms the mechanical conductor have of discovering the true time ? And
part of this art. in how many ways might he not be deceived ? The
The talent of heater of the time , withoutdifferent
de- degrees of slowness that might be assigned
manding very high musical attainments, is never- to the performance of such a Largo are very nume-
rous
theless sufficiently difficult to obtain ; and very few; the individual feeling of the orchestral con-
persons really possess it. The signs that the con-ductor must thence become the sole authority ; and
after all, it is the author's feeling, and not his, which
ductor should make, - although generally very simple
- nevertheless become complicated under certain is in question. Composers therefore ought not to
neglect placing metronome indications in their
circumstances, by the division and even the subdivi-
sion of the time of the bar. works ; and orchestral conductors are bound to study
The conductor, above all, is bound to possess athem closely. The neglect of this study on the part
clear idea of the principal points and character of the latter, is an act of dishonesty.
the work of which he is about to superintend the I will now suppose the conductor to be perfectly
well acquainted with the times of the different
performance or study ; in order that he may, without
movements in the work of which he is about to
hesitation or mistake, at once determine the time of
each movement desired by the composer. If he have conduct the performance or rehearsals ; he wishes to
impart to the musicians acting under his orders, the
not had the opportunity of receiving his instructions
directly from this latter, or if the times have notrhythmical feeling within him, to decide the duration
been transmitted to him by tradition, he must have of each bar, and to cause the uniform observance of
recourse to the indications of the metronome, and this duration by all the performers. Now, this pre-
study them well ; the majority of composers having cision and this uniformity can only be established in
now a-days the precaution to write them at the headthe more or less numerous assemblage of band and
and in the course of their pieces. I do not mean by chorus, by means of certain signs made by their
conductor.
this to say that it is necessary to imitate the mathe-
matical regularity of the metronome ; all music so These signs indicate the principal divisions, the
performed would become of freezing stiffness, and accents of the bar, and, in many cases, the subdivi-
I even doubt whether it would be possible to observesions, and the half- accents. I need hardly here ex-
so flat a uniformity during a certain number of bars.plain what is meant by the ' accents' (accented and
But the metronome is none the less excellent to unaccented parts of abar) ; I am pre-supposing that
consult, in order to know the original time, and I address
its musicians.
chief alterations. The orchestral conductor generally uses a small
If the conductor possess neither the author's light stick, of about a foot in length, and rather
instructions, tradition, nor metronome indications, whitish
- than of a dark colour (it is seen better),
which frequently happens in the ancient master- which he holds in his right hand, to make clearly
pieces, written at a period when the metronomedistinctwas his mode of marking the commencement,
not invented, - he has no other guide than, the vaguethe interior division, and the close of each bar. The
terms employed to designate the time to be taken, bow, employed by some violinist-conductors (leaders),
and his own instinct ; his feeling - more or- less is less suitable than the stick. It is somewhat flex-
dis-
ible; this want of rigidity, and the slight resistance
tinguishing, more or less just - of the author's style.
We are compelled to admit, that these guides areittoo also offers to the air, on account of its appendage
often insufficient and delusive. Of this we have of hair, render its indications less precise.

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 THE MUSICAL TIMES.- May 1, 1856. 229

The simplest of all times, - two in a bar,

Some German- is like-
Kapel-meisters do the contrary ;
wise beaten simply. and carry the stick from right to left ; thus : -
The arm and the stick of the conductor |p Thisbeing way has the disadvantage, -
2 when
raised, so that his hand is on a level the his
with conductor head, turns his back
he marks the first beat, by dropping the point of
his stick perpendicularly from up^ theatres,
to - of permittidown
ng only a small 2
number of musicians to perceive as ^
{by the bending of his wrist , as much
possible; and not by lowering the 'to ^ 1 theatres,
whole the number1 the very
orchestra,
important- ofindiimcatiportant
on of theof musicians permitting as indication takes to only place perceive a of small the in
second beat ; the body of the conductor
arm), and the second beat by raising per- then hiding
pendicularly the stick by a contrary
the movement of his arm. The other method of pro-
gesture. _ TU ceeding is preferable : since the conductor stretches
The time - one in _ a barhis arm -
outwards, wibeing
thdrawing it from his chest ; in reality, 1
and his stick, which he takes care to raise slightly
and particularly for the conductor, but the time of
above the level of his shoulder, remains should
two in a bar extremely rapid, perfectly be beaten like
visible to all eyes. When the conductor faces the is obliged to raise
the preceding. As the conductor
players, it is immaterihaving
the point of his stick, after al whether he mark the second lowered it, more-
beat to the right, or into
over necessarily divides this to the left. two portions.
However that may be, the third beat of the time,
In the time - four in a bar - the first gesture, ip
three in a bar, is always marked like the last of the
from up to down, is universally adopted for y
time, four in a barpart,
marking the first accented ; by an oblique movement tlîe commence* I
upwards.
ment of the bar. y
The second movement made by the conducting-
1
r3 3v
stick, from right to left, rising, indicates 2#^
2 2®
® ? oror
Y 2

the second beat (first unaccented part). A third,

transversely, from left to right, ¡¡¡^ - indicates
1 J
the third beat (second accented part) ; and a fourth,
obliquely, from down to up, indicates the fourth The times, - five a
beat (second unaccented part). The combination of more comprehensible
these four gestures may be figured thus : - of indicating them b
they were treated a
^ It is of importance of
of
four
three
and
and two
three.
in
^ N. that the conductor, in
^ delivering thus his dif-

g m
fjl" ferent directions, should
• w
w
allow his stick to pass Then, these times would ■ liř'
be beaten thus : - 2

'and >r over much space ; for

'and >r * should over each al*low consequentl
should
each of these gestures
y, much of hisoperate
operate these stick space nearl y gestures to ; pass notin-
nearly in- for
stantaneously ; or at least, take but so slight a move-
ment as to be imperceptible. If this movement
become perceptible, on the contrary, multiplied by i
the number of times that this gesture is repeated,
Exampleit
of seven in a bar ; -
ends by throwing the conductor behindhand in the
time he is beating, and by giving to his conducting
a tardiness that proves injurious. This defect, more-
over, has the result of needlessly fatiguing the con-

T . «
ductor, and of producing exaggerated evolutions,
verging on the ridiculous, which attract the spec-
tators' attention, and become very disagreeable to
witness. 2 »
In the time, three in a bar, the first gesture made
from up to down, is likewise univer- *
sally adopted, for marking the first ^ ^ 1
beat ; but there are two ways of g These different times
marking the second. The majority of y(
this way, are assumed
orchestral conductors indicate it by ^ /
moderate measure. It w
a gesture from left to right ; thus
measure were either ve

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 230 THE MUSICAL TIMES.- May 1, 1856.

The time, two in a bar, I have already signified,

MUSIC
cannot be beaten otherwise than as we have before
AMONG THE POETS AND POETICAL WRITERS,
seen - whatever its degree of rapidity. But if, as an
exception, it should be very slow, the conductor By Mary Cowden Clarke.
(Continued from page 214.;
ought to subdivide it.
" Sweet music has been heard
A time, four in a bar, very rapid, on the contrary,
should be beaten two in a bar ; the four accustomed In many places ; - some has been upstirr'd
From out its crystal dwelling in a lake,
gestures of a moderate movement becoming then so By a swan's ebon bill ; from a thick brake,
hurried, as to present nothing decided to the eye, Nested and quiet in a valley mild,
and serving only to confuse the performer instead of Bubbles a pipe ; fine sounds are floating wild
About the earth." - Keats.
giving him confidence. Moreover, - and this is of
much more consequence, - the conductor, by making
uselessly these four gestures in a quick movement, American farm sounds, out-door and in-door, are
renders the pace of the rhythm awkward, and loses chronicled in the following passages : -
the freedom of gesture which a simple division of" Patiently stood the cows meanwhile, and yielded their
the time into its half, would leave him. udders
Unto the milkmaid's hand ; whilst loud and in regular
Generally speaking, composers are wrong to write, cadence
in such a case, the indication of the time as four in
Into the sounding pail the foaming streamlets descended.
a bar. When the movement is very brisk, they
Lowing of cattle and peals of laughter were heard in the
should never write any other than the sign , and farm-yard,
not that of which might lead the conductorEchoed back by the barns. Anon they sank into stillness ;
into error. 3 Heavily closed, with a creaking sound, the valves of the
barn-doors,
It is exactly the
Rattled the wooden same
bars, and all for a season was silent. f
in a bar, fast ***** |, or §. The
of the secondFragm beat must be
by remaining Christmas,
the period of
Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him
the first, only
Sang to their Norman orchards and bright Burgundian
raise the
1&2
vineyards.
It would be absurd to attempt to beat the Close
three infather's side was the gentle Evangeline seated,
at her
a bar of one of Beethoven's scherzos. Spinning flax for the loom, that stood in the corner behind
The contrary is the case for these two times, as her :
for that of two in a bar. If the movement be verySilent awhile were its treadles, at rest was its diligent
shuttle,
slow, each time must be divided ; and consequently
While the monotonous drone of the wheel, like the drone
eight gestures must be made for the time, four in aof a bagpipe,
bar, and six for the time, three in a bar, repeating
Followed the old man's song, and united the fragments
(and shortening) each of the principal gestures wetogether.
have before instanced. As in a church, when the chant of the choir at intervals
ceases,
Footfalls are heard in the aisles, or words of the priest at
the altar,
So, in each pause of the song, with measured motion, the
clock clicked." - Longfellow.

Example of four ] q
in a bar, very slow : - " The unnumber'd sounds that evening store;
The songs of birds - the whisp'ring of the leaves -
The voice of wraters - the great bell that heaves
With solemn sound, - and thousand others more,
That distance of recognizance bereaves,
Make pleasing music, and not wild uproar." - Keats.
1
" It is the hour when from the boughs
3y The nightingale's high note is heard ;
It is the hour when lovers' vows
Seem sweet in every whisper'd word ;
Example of three in a bar, n. And gentle winds, and waters near,
Make music to the lonely ear." - Byron.
very slow : 2
"I* have sent through the wood-paths a gentle sigh,
And call'd out each voice of the deep-blue sky,
TT From the night-bird's lay through the starry-time,
i In the groves of the soft Hesperian clime,
The arm should remain wholly unaiding to the To the swan's wild note by the Iceland lakes,
When the dark fir-bough into verdure breaks."
little supplementary gesture, instanced for the sub- Mrs. Hemans.
division of the bar ; merely the wrist causing the (Continued on page 23 5. ;
stick to move.
( To be continued.) * The Spring.

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