Posted by Leland on July 09, 2003 at 15:42:47:
In Reply to: Keeping a good beat posted by Not quite together on July 08, 2003 at 11:05:44:
One of my college roommates, when his choir traveled to Salt Lake City, participated in a performance with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He told me that orchestra came in AFTER the conductor's downbeat -- but they were absolutely together. It makes sense -- nobody can truly see where an ictus is GOING to be, especially on an initial attack.
I've been in front of conductors who made themselves the focus of the tempo, and other conductors who were mainly cue-givers, clarifying their pattern for the ensemble if things got out of whack.
I, too, feel that it's the responsibility of the conductor to determine who's ahead and who's behind for this simple reason: EVERYONE ELSE is on the other side of their instruments, and can't truly hear the ensemble as a whole. For he/she to get everyone to play together, though, requires a team effort, and that's much more complex than just honking a horn or waving a baton.