When I went to an orchestra concert at a young age, I often thought of a question: what is the role of the conductor in an orchestra? I was just watching at the conductor’s back and he was waving his baton. Finally, a weird question came out from my mind: if the conductor has heart attack in the midway of the symphony in the concert, can the instrumentalists finish the pieces?
After searching the YouTube , here comes video which can answer my question!
I can conclude the video into three points.
Firstly, the conductor enables the orchestra to start playing together. If the orchestra is a human being, then the conductor is the heart of the human being. The conductor provides the pulse for the orchestra and all the instrumentalists follow the pulse and play at the same time. Starting the piece is the most difficult part for a conductor.
Secondly, conductor can integrate the orchestra as a single unit. As every instrumentalist has his own style, so they may play different tone colours. Therefore, a conductor can tune the style or tone colour that he wants during the rehearsals as to unify the orchestra.
Thirdly, conductor can be a clue during the performance. Especially for woodwind, brass and percussion players, there may be one-hundred bar rest in some symphonies. They may lose count count easily. So, the conductor can be the leading role of the orchestra to bring them to the right entrances.
Last but not least, if the conductor really has heart attack during the concert, I think the instrumentalists can keep going on, not because the conductor is not important, but because the importance of the conductor does not only manifest during the concert.
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