Baton (conducting)
A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to enlarge and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians.
Description
Modern batons are generally made of a lightweight wood,
Batons have normally varied in length from about 10 to 24 inches (250 to 610 mm) though a range of between 12 and 26 inches (300 and 660 mm) is more commonly used; Henry Wood once requested the use of a 24-inch baton.[3] When Gaspare Spontini arrived in Dresden in 1844, Wagner had a baton made from a thick ebony staff with ivory knobs at either end. Spontini purportedly held the baton in the center with a fist, using it like a marshall's staff—not for beating time but rather for commanding the opera.[4]
Usage
Conductors view their gestures as the primary means to communicate musical ideas, whether or not they choose to use batons. Leonard Bernstein is quoted as saying, "If one [the conductor] uses a baton, the baton itself must be a living thing, charged with a kind of electricity, which makes it an instrument of meaning in its tiniest movement."[citation needed]
The usual way of holding the baton is between the thumb and the first two fingers with the grip in against the palm of the hand. The baton is usually held in the right hand though some left-handed conductors, for instance Paavo Berglund, hold it in the left. Young left-handed conductors are, however, sometimes encouraged to learn right-handed conducting.[5] Some conductors like Pierre Boulez, Georges Prêtre, Leopold Stokowski, Valery Gergiev, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa and Yuri Temirkanov, however, choose not to hold a baton, preferring to conduct only with their hands. This method is common with smaller groups and choral conductors.[3] If the conductor does not use a baton, their hands must do the job with equal clarity, and the gestures must be first and always meaningful in terms of the music.[6] According to Gustav Meier, most conductors use a baton to "increase the visibility of the beat information".[7]
History
Before the use of the baton, orchestral ensembles were conducted from the harpsichord or the first violin lead. Conductors first began to use violin bows or rolled pieces of paper before the modern baton was introduced.
Ancient history
The first reported use of the conducting staff in a performance dates back to 709 BC, during which the leader, "Pherekydes of
...stationed himself in the centre and had placed himself on a high seat, waving a golden staff, and the players on the flute and cythara were...placed in a circle around him...now when Pherekydes with his golden staff gave the signal, all the art-experienced men began in one and the same time...[8]
16th–18th centuries
On 8 January 1687,
Different eyewitnesses to the premiere performance of Joseph Haydn's Creation in April of 1798 indicate that Haydn used a baton to conduct with his hands. Said Princess Eleanor von Liechtenstein, "Hayden [sic] gave the tempo with his two hands;" and wrote a Swedish relative of Franz Berwald, "on a higher level stood Haydn himself with his baton."[9]
19th century
The baton began to gain in popularity between 1820 and 1840. The first batons were narrow and conical wooden wands that had an engraving of three rings near the bottom that indicated the handle. The Halle Orchestra reported that Daniel Turk used a baton in 1810, with motions so exuberant that he occasionally hit the chandelier above his head and showered himself with glass.[10]
When Felix Mendelssohn returned to London in 1832, despite objections from violin leaders, he was encouraged to go on with his baton.[13] Despite the initial disagreement, the baton was in regular use at the Philharmonic a year later.
Jazz batons
In the early 1940s, while big band jazz music was on the rise, the use of a conductor became paramount to the success of the ensemble. To accommodate this, these conductors started using specialized "jazz batons." These specialized batons were slightly shorter than standard batons, ranging from 6 to 9 inches in length. Several famous jazz conductors that used these specific batons include Quincy Jones, Gunther Schuller and Richard Rogers. Although they are rarely used today, many accomplished jazz conductors use them during ballads.
References
- The Cambridge Companion to Conducting(UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003) pp. 3–4
- ISBN 978-1-58046-345-4
- ^ a b José Antonio Bowen et al., The Cambridge Companion to Conducting (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
- ^ José Antonio Bowen; et al. (2003). The Cambridge Companion to Conducting. Cambridge University. p. 104.
ivory.
- ISBN 978-1-101-58875-8
- ^ Leonard Bernstein, The Art of Conducting in The Joy of Music (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1960) p. 150
- OCLC 707922727.
- ^ Professor Murchard, [?] "Discovery of Ancient Greek Tablets Relevant to Music," Harmonicon 3, (April–May 1825): 56, 76
- ^ H.C. Robbins Landon, Liner notes to The Creation, 1994, Vivarte SX2K 57965
- ^ Charles Hallé, The Autobiography of Charles Hallé with Correspondence and Diaries ed. Michael Kennedy (London: Paul Elek Books, 1972) p. 116
- ^ Ignaz Moscheles, The Life of Moscheles with Selections from his Diaries and Correspondence tr. A.D. Coleridge (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1873) vol. 1 p. 76
- ^ H. Bertram Cox et al., Leaves from the Journals of Sir George Smart (London: Longmans Green and Co., 1907) p. 212
- ^ John Ella (1802–1888), supplement to 'Musical Union Record' (London) June 11, 1867. Family papers, pedigrees and early pictures of this musician are held at the Record Office in Leicester, archive collection MISC1260 and MISC1294, also DE6612 and at The East Riding of Yorkshire Archives in Beverley, collection DDX551.