Although the bibliography of literature about personalities in the conducting world is extensive, a comprehensive, scholarly study of the history of conducting has been sorely lacking. Georg Schünemann's respected study, published in 1913, was brief and restricted to the procedures of time-beating. No work has attempted to examine the role of the orchestral conductor and to document the evolution of his art from historical, technical, and aesthetic perspectives. Dr. Elliott W. Galkin, musicologist, conductor, and critic-twice winner of the Deems Taylor award for distinguished writing about music-has produced such a work in A History of Orchestral Conducting. The central historical section of the book, which examines chronologically the theories and functions of time-beating and interpretative concepts of performance, is preceded by discussions of rhythm, development of the orchestral medium, and the evolving characteristics of orchestration. Conductors of unusual pivotal influence are examined in depth, as is the increasingly complex psychology of the podium. Critical writings since the time of Monteverdi and the birth of the orchestra are surveyed and compared. Analyses of conducting as an art and craft by musicians from Berlioz to Bernstein and commentators from Mattheson, Bernard Shaw, and Thomas Mann to Jacques Barzun, are described and discussed. A fascinating collection of engravings, wood cuts, photographs and caricatures contributes to the richness of this work.

Conducting Technique has been accepted as a standard text for both choral and orchestral conducting courses taught at universities, colleges, and conservatories throughout the English-speaking world. For this revised edition the author has made a number of corrections and additions, includinga new preface.

Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss came to know one another as young conductors in Leipzig in 1887. From then until Mahler's death in 1911—the year of the first performance of Der Rosenkavalier—they kept in touch. Mahler himself described their relationship as that of two miners tunneling from opposite directions with the hope of eventually meeting. This first publication of their correspondence, which includes twenty-five previously unknown Strauss letters, offers a portrait of two men who were as antithetical in their musical means and goals as in their temperaments and personalities, but who exercised a strong fascination for one another. These sixty-three letters show both composers advancing in their careers as they battled against adverse conditions in the musical world at the turn of the century. They present Mahler's energetic support of Strauss's Symphonia Domestica, which Mahler conducted in 1904 and, in turn, Strauss's championing of Mahler's music, especially the Second and Third Symphonies. The correspondence is fully annotated and is supplemented with a major essay by Herta Blaukopf. "Unfailingly absorbing. . . . An indispensable addition to the literature on these composers."—Norman Del Mar, Times Literary Supplement

Theater music directors must draw on a remarkably broad range of musical skills. Not only do they conduct during rehearsals and performances, but they must also be adept arrangers, choral directors, vocal coaches, and accompanists. Like a record producer, the successful music director must have the flexibility to adjust as needed to a multifaceted job description, one which changes with each production and often with each performer. In Music Direction for the Stage, veteran music director and instructor Joseph Church demystifies the job in a book that offers aspiring and practicing music directors the practical tips and instruction they need in order to mount a successful musical production. Church, one of Broadway's foremost music directors, emerges from the orchestra pit to tell how the music is put into a musical show. He gives particular attention to the music itself, explaining how a music director can best plan the task of learning, analyzing, and teaching each new piece. Based on his years of professional experience, he offers a practical discussion of a music director's methods of analyzing, learning, and practicing a score, thoroughly illustrated by examples from the repertoire. The book also describes how a music director can effectively approach dramatic and choreographic rehearsals, including key tips on cueing music to dialogue and staging, determining incidental music and underscoring, making musical adjustments and revisions in rehearsal, and adjusting style and tempo to performers' needs. A key theme of the book is effective collaboration with other professionals, from the production team to the creative team to the performers themselves, all grounded in Church's real-world experience with professional, amateur, and even student performances. He concludes with a look at music direction as a career, offering invaluable advice on how the enterprising music director can find work and gain standing in the field.

In this wide-ranging inside view of the history and practice of conducting, analysis and advice comes directly from working conductors, including Sir Charles Mackerras on opera, Bramwell Tovey on being an Artistic Director, Martyn Brabbins on modern music, Leon Botstein on programming and Vance George on choral conducting, and from those who work closely with conductors: a leading violinist describes working as a soloist with Stokowski, Ormandy and Barbirolli, while Solti and Abbado's studio producer explains orchestral recording, and one of the world's most powerful managers tells all. The book includes advice on how to conduct different types of groups (choral, opera, symphony, early music) and provides a substantial history of conducting as a study of national traditions. It is an unusually honest book about a secretive industry and managers, artistic directors, soloists, players and conductors openly discuss their different perspectives for the first time.

Renowned as the gifted composer of a string of masterworks, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) is less often remembered for his achievement as a major conductor. This book considers Strauss' career as a conductor and places it in relation to his life as a composer.