On Conducting
Author Richard Wagner
Categories Non-fiction, Music
Language English
Published 1869
Notes
Translated by Dannreuther.
Approx. 26,244 words.
Excerpt
s of Wagner have been appended. The footnotes, throughout, are the translator's.
ON CONDUCTING
The following pages are intended to form a record of my experience in a department of music which has hitherto been left to professional routine and amateur criticism. I shall appeal to professional executants, both instrumentalists and vocalists, rather than to conductors; since the executants only can tell whether, or not, they have been led by a competent conductor. I do not mean to set up a system, but simply to state certain facts, and record a number of practical observations.
Composers cannot afford to be indifferent to the manner in which their works are presented to the public; and the public, naturally, cannot be expected to decide whether the performance of a piece of music is correct or faulty, since there are no data beyond the actual effect of the performance to judge by.
I shall endeavour to throw some light upon the characteristics of musical performances in Germany--with regard to th