The Cambridge Companion to Conducting

by José Antonio Bowen (Editor)

Written by many working conductors, this book considers all facets of musical conducting. It includes practical advice on how to conduct different groups (choral, opera, symphony, early music) and a history of conducting presented as a study of national traditions. Designed for the lay reader who wants an inside look at the world of conducting as well as for potential students, it is a revealing study about a secretive industry. Managers, artistic directors, soloists, players and conductors openly discuss their different perspectives in this comprehensive work.

Genres: Music

368 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2003

Reviews

[Carol]

This was another solid entry in the Cambridge Companion series. The chapters were uniformly interesting and covered a lot of ground, from the histories of conductors and conducting to practical advice about running rehearsals. Many of the chapters were written by working conductors, which made for colorful material and prose. It also made for a wonderful variety of opinions and perspectives on various aspects of conducting. My only complaint is that the book, like the profession of conducting, is overly male-dominated. Only one chapter has a female author and that is the also the chapter on women on the podium.

[Shawn]

Useful, informative, full of nuances and details on conducting. Big names & small names are given, anecdotes & quotations are plenty, and just about every aspect of the trade is discussed. The book is comprised of several informed voices and thus speaks from diverse angles. It'll tell you how there is no fixed identity to great conductors. Some were good, fine, or superb instrumentalists, some were nice & charismatic while others were difficult to access. The chapter on women conductors was most interesting (I keenly felt the unfairness). Chronology & history are fleshed out to reveal the evolving nature of conducting. The last chapter on the relevance of live music was salient and brought the whole book to a solid conclusion, for it was very realistic in assessing the life-spirit of music today.

I'd give it more stars but it's not really suited for or accessible to readers who are not musicians. My eyes glossed over some paragraphs (I imagine myself as a piano player who aspires to be an amateur pianist). If you can keep track of the names, then there are documentaries & vids online about such names (von Karajan, Solti, et. al.). Overall, pretty solid text, certainly useful for music students, and probably entertaining for musicians.

[Jann Howell]

Things I already knew but plenty of things I never thought about.

[Carlos Montiel Toscano]

un enfoque muy conservador; eurocentrista y heteronormativo