Conductor? That person who waves his/her hands?
My understanding of a conductor has evolved over time. It started of as confusion what is the significance of 'waving hands in the air' when I was a kid. It then evolved into an understanding that conductor plays a huge role during rehearsals. My guitar teacher told me that a conductor played a big role in the rehearsals to correct every minute details of the piece, then during the performance it is mostly as rehearsed. But ever since I had the actual experience of being conducted by people I started to feel that the conductor is not just crucial in the rehearsals, but also at the performance day.
People say that directly experiencing will give a completely different views compared to just listening from others. This concept comes true in my understanding on conductor as well as I joined my church's choir in Singapore. Through my experience with our conductor, I felt the necessity of a conductor during rehearsals; how our conductor relentlessly tidy up on our phrasing and the direction of each words. Moreover, I also felt the part of a conductor during the actual performance especially in setting the tempo and loudness. But is that all?
Not until I had a chance to be conducted by world class conductor, I finally realized the true role of a conductor in a choir and orchestra. In 2017, I had a chance to sing Elijah Oratorio under the world class conductor Dr. Jahja Ling, and it was one of my most musical mind opening experience in my life. When he conducts, Dr. Ling not only delivers the tempo and cues for each of the choir part and orchestra instrument, but he delivers the emotion and spirit of the piece through his eyes. Someone jokingly said before rehearsing with Dr. Ling for the first time that his eyes will get so big when he conducts. I previously thought that it was a pure joke, but when he conducts, his eyes would be so fiery when the piece was, and would be so soft when the piece was in the same mood which leads to us 'forced' to follow that emotion which he wanted to convey. I was utterly amazed with the experience, and said to myself, "So this is how it feels to be conducted by a world class conductor!"
So after all the evolution of my understanding of what is the job of a conductor, I was so impressed by the centrality of the role in a musical group. A conductor does play a significant role in rehearsals by correcting mistakes and imbuing interpretation to the musicians. Moreover, he/she is as significant on the actual performance day by setting tempo, cues and most importantly force the musical group paint the emotion by conveying it through the conducting. Amazing isn't? But apparently it does not stop there.
Only recently, as I was rehearsing under Dr. Joel Navarro, another world-class conductor for a Dan Forrest concert, I started to feel that in a music group, a conductor has to be the most Christ-like figure of all others.
Christ-like? You mean being a good person?
Obviously being Christ-like has a lot of aspect to it. But to put it simple, being Christ-like is more than a vague concept of good. There is a fix standard of moral as well as couple of theme which goes with the concept of good in the bible (e.g. love, suffer for Christ, bear the cross). Displaying these qualities in our lives outside the church is what I would say the simple way of explaining living a Christ-like life.
Seeing Christ in a conductor
After getting into the overview of what does it mean to be like Christ, now it is time to explain why my understanding of a conductor evolved into an understanding that a great conductor is displaying a Christ-like figure. In my opinion, a conductor is Christ-like in three aspects: love, suffering and single point of failure.
Love
First, a conductor must love the music he/she performing the most among all of the musicians. The need for a conductor to love the music to the point of knowing it as good as knowing his own hands is indispensable. In addition, not just knowing superficially the music, the conductor needs to be able to convey the will of original composer of the music, and it takes time and experience to correctly interpret the music. Just as Christ loves us, the conductor ought to love the piece and music, dedicate his/her life for the preparation and the performance.
Suffering and Struggle
Second, to be able to love the music well, a lot of effort to the level of suffering needs to be put into the music. Someone who doesn't understand what is the role of a conductor would not understand how much effort does a conductor need to put into understanding a piece is something that is difficult to understand. Just as Christ suffers an unfathomable pain, a conductor suffers, to memorize and practice the conducting such that the performance of the orchestra and choir members is secure.
Single Point of Failure
Finally, the conductor is the orchestra's single point of failure. Just as Christ became the single point of failure of human's hope, the performance's success relies on the shoulder of the conductor.
During the concert at Victoria Concert Hall, I witnessed with my own eyes how can our conductor stand his ground and go on with the show despite the disaster in the tempo. At that moment, I was thinking, the show will be over, it will be ruined, we might not be able to finish the piece. The performance was in such a disaster to the point that some of the orchestra members stopped playing.
But what astonished me was during that night, our conductor Dr. Joel Navarro actually use big gesture with his hands (which for sure drained his energy so much) to ensure the tempo between the orchestra, the organist and the choir members are in sync. Not yet successful with his big arm gesture, he used his mouth to sound the tempo. He did all he could to ensure the piece is not stopping. In the end, the orchestra begun to play again and start to converge with the choir and the organ and despite being not the smoothest landing, we managed to finish the piece.
That night, I learned a valuable lesson. If it weren't for the effort and the perseverance of Dr. Navarro, that night was over. The music will stop and the concert was a failure. But we were so blessed to have a conductor like him, which succeeded in the hardest time, not failing for being the single point of failure. Just as Christ who lived in this world as human, He was also tempted like us, but He did not fail. He passed all the trials and lived a holy life such that we might be saved.
This really elevated my view on the conductor as a profession. Previously, I thought it was a difficult job to execute, but after that event, I view it as a very noble job to do.
Love
First, a conductor must love the music he/she performing the most among all of the musicians. The need for a conductor to love the music to the point of knowing it as good as knowing his own hands is indispensable. In addition, not just knowing superficially the music, the conductor needs to be able to convey the will of original composer of the music, and it takes time and experience to correctly interpret the music. Just as Christ loves us, the conductor ought to love the piece and music, dedicate his/her life for the preparation and the performance.
Suffering and Struggle
Second, to be able to love the music well, a lot of effort to the level of suffering needs to be put into the music. Someone who doesn't understand what is the role of a conductor would not understand how much effort does a conductor need to put into understanding a piece is something that is difficult to understand. Just as Christ suffers an unfathomable pain, a conductor suffers, to memorize and practice the conducting such that the performance of the orchestra and choir members is secure.
Single Point of Failure
Finally, the conductor is the orchestra's single point of failure. Just as Christ became the single point of failure of human's hope, the performance's success relies on the shoulder of the conductor.
During the concert at Victoria Concert Hall, I witnessed with my own eyes how can our conductor stand his ground and go on with the show despite the disaster in the tempo. At that moment, I was thinking, the show will be over, it will be ruined, we might not be able to finish the piece. The performance was in such a disaster to the point that some of the orchestra members stopped playing.
But what astonished me was during that night, our conductor Dr. Joel Navarro actually use big gesture with his hands (which for sure drained his energy so much) to ensure the tempo between the orchestra, the organist and the choir members are in sync. Not yet successful with his big arm gesture, he used his mouth to sound the tempo. He did all he could to ensure the piece is not stopping. In the end, the orchestra begun to play again and start to converge with the choir and the organ and despite being not the smoothest landing, we managed to finish the piece.
That night, I learned a valuable lesson. If it weren't for the effort and the perseverance of Dr. Navarro, that night was over. The music will stop and the concert was a failure. But we were so blessed to have a conductor like him, which succeeded in the hardest time, not failing for being the single point of failure. Just as Christ who lived in this world as human, He was also tempted like us, but He did not fail. He passed all the trials and lived a holy life such that we might be saved.
Conclusion
Conductor is a mysterious role in an orchestra. To the common people, conductors' job is just to wave hands and the music follows him. But to true musician, they understand that a conductor's role is way more important than that. The conductor decides on how the music will sound when performed in the concert. As a Christian, I personally feel that I can see a glimpse of Christlike quality. Especially when Dr. Joel Navarro managed to finish our piece despite the chaotic process.This really elevated my view on the conductor as a profession. Previously, I thought it was a difficult job to execute, but after that event, I view it as a very noble job to do.
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