Lesson Thirteen: Stop and Hold, Leonard Slatkin's Conducting School

Maestro Slatkin addresses how to cut off the orchestra. He also introduces the fermata symbol and its effect on the ending of a piece, using score examples from Brahms's Symphony No. 1 and Dvořák's “New World” Symphony.

[@repettomuzik]

Love your music-making, conducting, and now these videos, Mr. Slatkin! Please continue them -- they are amazing!!

[@thinkharder2028]

Everything about these videos is top-notch!! As make their way two conductors both accomplished and not the skills presented not only make those conductors lives very much easier also make easier the experiences of the many musicians they touch over the years.

[@terraricardo]

Thanks Mr Slatkin for those very instructive videos. It has been a delight watch them. I was wondering if you have any plan on make a video showing the approach of a conductor in regard interpretation, how you take in consideration the composer, the back ground of the piece and so on. Once again thanks very much!

[@ChristopherFryman]

i love it

[@DavidS_Tan]

You must teach how to read a score in the very beginning, it is very vital!

[@Harlem55]

Not as much as you think- It is possible to listen to the score and understand the sum of the parts- if one can read a single line of music one can read a score well enough to get the gist of what's going on. The details of transposition really aren't as important to the conductor as one might think- the conductor interprets (rhythm, dynamics, time, attitude, etc.) but because the conductor does not actually perform in the traditional sense it is not really all that necessary to fine-tune the ability to read pitch in all these clefs, etc. these days because we can get what we really need to know by having listened to one or several performances of the piece. For example- take the famous first two bars of Beethoven's 5th in C minor- three eighth notes on an upbeat, and a half note with the fermata on the downbeat of bar 2. The Kicker: Most people actually "reading" the music for the first time will tend to "insert" a bar between beats 2 and 3- we're taught that the fermata turns that half note into a whole after all BUT in reality, it's not performed that way at all-we release both of the fermatas in the first four bars of that piece a bit early as compared to what might be customary for a fermata - rather turning the half note into a dotted half by the majority of interpretations. (sometimes even faster than that) However- you're really not going to know this "reading" the score without having actually "heard" the music.