Artistic Score Study: Conductors' Approaches to Discovering and Communicating the Composer's Intent

Abstract

By interviewing master conductors in the field, through this study I aim to find promising practices and approaches for conductors to create more meaningful and powerful emotional connections with the score to communicate a more complete image of the composer’s intent. It is my hope that these practices will begin to guide conductors of all levels toward more meaningful music-making experiences for themselves, the ensemble, and the audience. Utilizing a qualitative, multiple case study design, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with four long-term successful wind band conductors revealed personal methods of artistic score study providing insight into how conductors approach discovering and communicating the composer’s intent, as well as approaches to guiding the ensemble toward their interpretation. Score study is a highly personal process conductors use to internalize the music, build a personal interpretation, and prepare for rehearsals and performance. One will quickly find limitations in conducting textbooks in approach to defining how conductors study a musical score in relation to revealing emotive content. As a conductor, it is vital to have a clear aural image of the music to be conducted; however, how does one uncover the emotive content of the score and synthesize it into an emotionally connected gesture? This study seeks to provide promising practices to aid conductors in discovering emotive content, transferring inner knowledge to outward physical gesture, and recreating the composer’s intent through a collaborative rehearsal and performance process.