Lesson Nineteen: Putting It All Together, Part Four; Leonard Slatkin's Conducting School

In this final installment of the series, Leonard Slatkin addresses the decisions a conductor must make while navigating through the second, third, and fourth movements of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

[@psono429]

I will always admire Leonard Slatkin. Enjoyed thoroughly his directorship in DC.

[@frankibio]

Bravo maestro... we need more videos like these.

[@ChristopherFryman]

I feel that Beethoven combining quarter notes and eighth notes on the same beat is a nice idea. One instrument lingers on a bit. I think that was what he intended.

[@TheAeroflyGuy]

Wow! I Listen To Your Rachmaninov Piano Concertos On Spotify Every Day! Big Fan! Thanks So Much!

[@mahonymusic]

This series has been immensely helpful! I'm going to be conducting my first piece very soon (an original composition of mine) and I have much more confidence now that rehearsals and the show will go well, as you've given me the essential tools of conducting. Bravo! Looking forward to the series you spoke of next year.

[@theoperapianist]

Thanks so much for the lessons! So helpful and informative!

[@julia-hj8rb]

Maestro, why didn’t you discuss the apogiatura of the second movement. On the note or before the note?

[@RicardoDeSantiagoMusic]

please continue maestro

[@jensumusic3676]

Wonderful

[@margotenenbaum3025]

MUCHAS gracias

[@archangecamilien1879]

2:55 haha..."That doesn't mean the orchestra should have opposite opinions"...

[@archangecamilien1879]

6:26...I didn't think something like that would be disputed, haha, I have to say...

[@jamesedwards9690]

Hi, I really want to be a conductor, I am worried about a young person like me getting a job as a conductor because it seems very difficult it today's world any advice?

[@johnmitchell4838]

You need talent. You have to work your arse off. Most of all you have to get lucky. Sorry, but that's the only way.

[@NicholasWingComposer]

I would disagree with the 1st violins not being held for a full quarter note. This was a convention of the period, and Mozart utilized similar techniques in his Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni Overtures, including in the divisi string parts. Thus, to conduct it without the first violins playing a full quarter note would at the very least be denying each audience, who may be attending a performance of Beethoven's 7th Symphony for the first time, the opportunity to hear Beethoven's piece as he intended it to be heard. And for what reason? This clearly would change the texture of the sound in any hall or performance space. It would also change the essential character of the technique employed by Beethoven. Also, with regard to the use of eighth notes over quarter notes in the rhythm, this was a convention of the time, and should be observed. I believe that Beethoven probably did so to emphasize the rhythm, not unlike his brilliant use of the sfz, while achieving a specific string texture. Mozart did the same thing. Are you going to change Mozart next? Irrespective of the rationale, these are desecrations, and is Maestro Slatkin now saying that any conductor of any skill level or experience could do the same thing to the music of the greatest composers who ever lived? At what point does a conductor become qualified and credentialed enough to change Beethoven? Where does it end?

[@acr08807]

It's a wonder that his audiences don't storm out of the hall in protest.