The Conductor's Challenge

This text is an extension and expansion of Guide to Score Study and examines the various paths conductors follow in arriving at an interpretation. The author emphasizes the importance of the conductor's imagination, personality and ongoing study in developing an interpretation that is personal, well informed and faithful to the composer's expressive intent. He examines the score analysis process including the role and function of a work's musical elements, the need to balance intellectual understanding and intuitive feelings about a piece, and the challenges faced by conductors when transforming an interpretation into a performance.