Methodological approach to the study of orchestral conducting from the point of view of the musical work

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the study of orchestral conducting from the point of view of studying and reflecting on the musical work. Faced with the manifest scarcity of bibliography on this very specific topic, it is intended to offer a broad diachronic vision, contributed by great figures of orchestral conducting, from the beginning, with the professionalization of the figure of the conductor –Mendelsshon, Berlioz, Wagner–, the golden age, in the first half of the 20th century –Mahler, Walter, Furtwängler, Weintgartner, Swarowsky, Scherchen, Ansermet–, the post-war period and the second half of the 20th century –Muti, Karajan, Solti, Bernstein, Abbado– and the present time –Thielemann, Rattle, Ros-Marbà–. The approach of the great interpreters to the work starts from a deep study of the musical work from the analysis that starts from a clear point full of interest in the study process: the previous image of the sound, an indispensable and previous strategy to rehearsal, which can be extrapolated to the piano and the rest of the instruments and to singing.