| Chapter 1: | Conducting in Theory and Practice |
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This goal is achieved during the rehearsal process when, for Karajan, “[you are] rehearsing your orchestra to the point where you see that they are at one with you. They carry you instead of you carrying them”.46
Some conductors have suggested the presence of a teaching paradigm within the conductor/ensemble relationship. However, does the teacher/student metaphor apply to the professional orchestra? Sir Thomas Beecham was of the opinion that there was little a conductor could offer in terms of educating an orchestra of professional musicians such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra:
Whilst a significant number of the world’s professional orchestral musicians may be impeccably trained and knowledgeable individuals, a number of conductors have drawn attention to the transfer of knowledge that can occur within the rehearsal process. Leonard Bernstein writes, “Teaching is perhaps the essence of my function as a conductor. I share whatever I know and whatever I feel about the music. I try to make the orchestra feel it, know it, and understand it, too, so that we can do it together”.48 Members of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini likened their rehearsals to school lessons. David Walter, principal bassist for the orchestra, writes, “What he did was to make you sharply aware of the differences in the size of a forte, the strength of an accent, the rapidity of a crescendo or decrescendo, in different works.