The Orchestra Builder

The job of conductor used to be both simpler and more dangerous. In the late 17th century, when composer Jean-Baptiste Lully conducted his “Te Deum” in a French church, the role was chiefly one of beating time for an ensemble. Lully beat it with a stick, accidentally struck his foot, and died three months later of gangrene. But timekeeping is only the most primitive aspect of an art that has grown to include the direction of all aspects of a performance, from tempo and dynamics to details of articulation, phrasing, balance, and character – not to mention, these days, programming and administration.